By the 1970s, sales tax overtook property tax as the state’s largest revenue resource and remained the top until the mid-2000s. The rate continued to rise from the ’70s and eventually topped out at 5.09 percent. It’s fluctuated slightly since and is now 4.85 percent.
However, as the governor’s office points out, sales tax revenue has fallen during that time. A report by the Utah Foundation in 2018 also noted this. Using Bureau of Economic Analysis data, the foundation showed the sales tax burden significantly dropped in recent years to be lower than income or property tax.
Herbert’s office, the 2011 legislative report and the Utah Foundation all point to a change in what Utahns buy for that reason.
