Did sales tax collected from online retailers fund the surplus in Wisconsin?

While online sales tax revenues did contribute to the surplus, the main drivers were federal pandemic relief aid, lower state spending and consumer price increases, according to a 2022 Wisconsin Policy Forum report.

"The growth in tax collections is due to factors that include federal pandemic relief, previously low interest rates, and the rise in consumer prices, which boosts sales tax revenues in particular," the group found.

It attributed lower state spending to the federal government paying a larger share of Medicaid costs and lawmakers' choice to limit the amount of one-time federal COVID-19 aid it sent to schools and local governments.

Online sales did contribute some to the state's current surplus, however. The share of the sales tax made up from nonstore retailers — primarily online sales — increased from 3.6% before the pandemic to 7.5% in 2022, according to the Department of Revenue.