The amount of liquor taxes collected by the state of Minnesota grew more than average in the last year, according to data that gives a first peek at the potential impact of Sunday sales.
From July 2017 when Sunday sales began to the end of June, there was a 4 percent increase year-over-year in alcohol taxes which totaled more than $186 million, according to numbers released this month by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. For the last decade, growth has averaged an increase of about 2.9 percent each fiscal year.
While there was an increase in alcohol tax revenue, the increase wasn't the largest bump seen in recent years. Because the tax is not reported or taxed based on the day of the week, there isn't a clear way to determine how much of the growth could be directly attributed to Sunday sales.
The data combines two alcohol related tax revenues, the alcohol beverage tax that is paid by the wholesaler and the liquor gross receipts tax which is paid by the consumer during a purchase.
Response has been mixed from locally owned liquor stores if the additional amount of products sold on Sundays offsets the costs of being open an additional day.
