Lower sales tax receipts in Texas could be explained this way...
Conservative retail business owners ticked off by the “where’s my pie” voters decide to not declare the full total of their cash receipts.
I suspect you’re right on the cash sale reporting, but also overlooked is the surge in online purchases. I buy just about everything except groceries online these days and most of that is (still) free of sales taxes. I doubt if I’m alone. Between the hassle of going to the store, lousy customer service, and much better online prices, there’s little incentive to patronize most brick-and-mortar stores.