A study by The Utah Foundation found that Utah’s sales tax revenue has essentially stayed the same per capita since 1976. Experts said changes do need to happen, and some ideas include dropping the tax rate.
Christopher Collard was the main analyst for the study and notes that sales tax used to be the major source of revenues for the state.
“This is the money the legislature really uses to cover most of the cost of government,” said Collard.
Different solutions to the issue include raising the sales tax, cutting spending or widening the tax base to include more services.
While many items are subject to sales tax, many services are not. Often times work on your home like a plumber or landscapers don’t charge sales tax. Collard said by including those items you could actually lower the tax rate, and avoid issues on consistency of revenue.
