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Show Sales Tax Emerges As Important State Revenue Source The pennies collected from the sales tax have added up to rove-! nue receipts totaling more than $270,01 h 1,000 for the state of Utah' during the past 25 years, Tins' fact is revealed by Utah Foundation, Founda-tion, the private tax research organization, or-ganization, in their latest study of Utah's sales tax. Foundation analysts obsene that the 27c Utah sales tax produced pro-duced nearly $2 Vi million during dur-ing the fiscal year ended June 30, 19,r)S. If the same sum were to be raised from the property tax. a state-wide levy of 10 mills ($10.00 rer $1,000 assessed valu ation) would be needed. According to the report, Utah is I one of 33 states which impose a state sales tax. Washington has a 3,3r5 state sales tax rate, 16 states have a 3r'c rate, two states a 2'i rate, 13 (including Utah) a 2r.'o rate, Indiana a of l1.'?-rate, l1.'?-rate, and 15 do not have a tax. These rates do not include local lo-cal sales tax rates which are permitted per-mitted in a number of states. California, Cal-ifornia, for example, allows local lo-cal units to levy a lTo local sales tax in addition to the 3 state sales tax rate, making the to-I to-I tal effective sales tax rate equal to 4 in most California cities and counties. Although the sales tax was originally Imposed by most states during the depression years as an emergency measure. It has gained renewed popularity during dur-ing the post war era of economic econo-mic growth and Inflation. The report points out that 10 states and more than 1,400 local units of government throughout the United States have adopted the sales tax since the close of World War II. Foundation officials surmise that It may well be that much of this post-war popularity in the sales tax among the states has developed as a countermovement to high Federal income tax rates. With much of the potential income in-come base pre-empted by the Federal government, states are forced to turn to consumer spending spend-ing as a principal source of additional ad-ditional state and local government govern-ment revenue." The tax study notes that within with-in the past few years an increasing increas-ing 'number of municipalities throughout the nation have turned turn-ed io iiie sales a SS a rrvar;. of solving their local financial j problems. Local sales taxes are now imposed by municipalities in 10 states. On Jan. 1, there were 1,418 municipalities and counties using the sales tax. Several oflcial committees, groups, and public officials studying stu-dying local government finance problems In Utah have recommended recom-mended the. adoption of a local j sales tax as the means of solv-j ing the financial dilemma facing, Utah's principal municipalities.! The entire matter is now under' consideration by the Utah Lcgis-j lative Council. j |