Duties
The primary duty of the comptroller's office is to collect substantially all tax revenue owed to the State of Texas. This involves more than 60 different types of taxes from the sales tax (the largest source of the state's tax revenue, since Texas does not have a personal income tax) to minor items such as the "battery sales fee" (a $2–$3 fee on sales of lead-acid batteries). As Texas uses a unified collection system for sales taxes assessed by both state and local governments, the comptroller's office is responsible for collecting and remitting the local portion of this tax revenue to the various cities, counties, and special districts throughout the state.
The comptroller's office also operates the various prepaid college tuition funds operated by the state through its Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board, provides reports on fiscal management and economic forecasts, and manages the unclaimed property fund.
As part of its fiscal management responsibilities, Article III, Section 49a of the Texas Constitution requires the comptroller to certify to the Texas legislature the amount of available cash on hand and anticipated revenues for the next biennium (the two-year period beginning on September 1 of odd-numbered years). The Legislature is not permitted to appropriate any funds in excess of the comptroller's certified amounts (except in cases of emergency and then only with a four-fifths vote of both chambers), and absent the latter the comptroller is required to reject and return to the legislature any appropriation in violation of this requirement.
Read more about this topic: Texas Comptroller Of Public Accounts
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