Show legislature of the state of utah special session 1930 state capitol Cn pitol the special session of the high eighteenth teen t it legislature of the state of utah has convened to consider r submitting constitutional amendments to the he uenh voters that if adopted ild opted will enable future utah legislatures to accomplish the tax revision recommendations which ire us as follows 1 all tangible property shall be taxed at ull uniform biform rates throughout tile the jurisdiction of the authority levying the tax 2 all intangible property shall be classified for purposes of taxation preferably the intangible property be exempt from taxation as prop aty with the express provision that the ae income shall be taxed 3 all business conducted for except insurance compit companies nies shall a taxed at a moderate uniform rate apon the net income of the business jone within the state A a insurance companies shall be caled ou on their net premiums b the present license tax on oil corporations po rations shall be repealed when tile the corporation income tax becomes effective all other special taxes for state purposes purpose shall he be continued continue 4 all residents of this state having taxable ability shall pity pay it direct personal income tax at moderate gra graduated duft rates 5 the r venue revenue e which la Is derived from the business tax and the personal income tax shall be devoted to the state district school fund and the levy for state district school fund purposes shall be reduced accordingly 13 the present constitutional state board of equalization shall be abolished and a state tax commission created a the state tax commission shall assess all mines and public utilities b the state tax commission shall have power to equalize the valuations of any assessments within any county of the state and shall have tho the power to equalize the valuations of oc classes of property between counties c on appeal of ten fen or more persons the commission shall review and correct any tax levies tor for local purposes w with ith a view to checking unnecessary expenditures on appeal of ten or more persons the commission ahall review tiny any local bond issue and shall bring all of the facts involved to the attention of the taxpayers together with the recommendations of the commission d the administration of all special ial taxes for state purposes shall be centralized in the office of the state tax commission e the state tax commission shall ahall have hate authority to prescribe a system of uniform accounts for all local taxing units and shall have power to the use of such uniform accounting system jt it shall also have power to enforce suitable regulations for the preparation of all local budgets and shall have authority to conduct regular independent audits of all loc local al public accounts and to take the lie necessary steps to safeguard public funds through the prosecution of all viola lions of proper accounting procedure 7 the legislature shall authorize a comprehensive study of expenditures governmental govern menial organdy orga itsou ani and bust busl nesi methods in connection with the the operation of the proposed plan of tax revision in order to determine whether more economical method of handling the public business may be developed and for the purpose of securing a proper balance between state and local revenues under the proposed plan of tax revision amendments TO constitution having made the foregoing recommendations ions the commission states that they cannot be made effective effect iv e at all points under tho present co constitution ns uhl and that the first constructive step toward tax equalization in the state of utah must be the amendment of certain coils constitutional ti tit dional provisions relating to taxation the two fundamentals contained in the ho proposed constitutional amendments deal with 1 the classification of intangible bie property for taxation purposes ies and 2 centralized administration in addition to these two main points it a provision Is made that all revenue derived derival from any income taxes which may be enacted shall be paid into the state district school fund faunl there are arc some other minor points contained in these proposals which appeared feared desirable to all the commission but which do not directly effect the main issue involved experience in various states over n long period of years hila ted the impossibility impo of taxing intangible property in the same manner and at the same rates as tangible property is taxed consequently the separation of tangible property pio perty from intangible lit tang property Is a fundamental necessity regardless of the enactment of the contemplated tax revision plan indeed not a single step toward intelligent tax reform can an be taken until tho the rule of e uniformity Is abolished |