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Show Utah Tax System Described In Fmdatbn Oeport Utah Foundation reported today to-day that Utahns paid a total of more than $350 million in Federal, ntate, and local taxes and fees during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1953. This represents rep-resents an average tax burden of $475 for every man, woman and child in the State. The average av-erage family of four paid $1,-900 $1,-900 in direct and "hidden" taxes tax-es and fees during the year. More than one dollar out of every three' earned in Utah last year was required to' make tax payments. Approximately two-thirds of this tax burden was devoted to Federal taxes either direct or indirect, Utah Foundation analysts reported. In other words, the Federal tax load imposed im-posed on Utahns was twice as great as the state and local tax load combined. In 1940, the situation was almost directly reversed, with state and local taxes being twice as great as the Federal tax burden. Although Federal taxes have increased more rapidly than state or local taxes in recent years, the Utah Foundation study pointed otit that State and local impositions are a significant signi-ficant part of the total. Between 1940 and 1953, total state and local taxes have about trebled. A recent nationwide study revealed re-vealed that Utah had the sixth highest combined state and local tax burden in the nation. Utah's total state and local tax burden in ' proportion to total income was found to be higher than that of any other Western State. According to the Utah Foundation Foun-dation researchers, Utah levies every major kind of tax imposed im-posed in any of the Western States with the exception of gambling taxes. Most of these taxes were imposed during the 1930's. Prior to that time, state and local governments in Utah relied almost exclusively on the general property tax for their revenue. Combined state and local taxes amounted to $102,241,365 in the fiscal year 1953, compared com-pared with $80 million in 1950, $47 million in 1945, $35 million in 1940, and $26 million in 1930 the Utah Foundation study detailed. de-tailed. ' Property taxes produced 80 of the state and local revenue in 1930, 52 in 1940, 45 in 1950, and 41.3 in 1953. The sales tax accounted for 12 of state and local taxes in 1940 compared with 16.8 in 1953. Taxes on income, both corporate corpor-ate and individual, furnished 4.4 of the taxes to operate state and local government in 1940, rising to 8.3 in the 1953 total, according to the Utah Foundation study. The Utah Foundation research report discusses the history, the rate's, and the impact of each of the major taxes imposed by state and local governments in Utah, but with no attempt to evaluate their desirability or equity. Such an evaluation is currently the object of a study by the Utah Legislative Council Coun-cil and' the Tax Commission. A tax consulting . organization, Princeton Surveys, has been employed by the State to assist in the study. A copy of the Utah Foundation Founda-tion research report on the Utah tax system is offered without charge to any interested citizen of Utah upon written request to the Foundation. Requests should be directed to Utah Foundation, 400 Darling Bldg., Salt Lake City. The report contains con-tains a detailed tax chart, showing show-ing the complete Utah tax system sys-tem the legal citation for each tax, the year first enacted, the basis of the tax, the rates, the yield in 1953, and the purpose for which the tax revenue is used. |
