Sales Tax Exclusions & Exemptions

Modernizing Utah’s Sales Tax: A Guide for Policymakers

By almost any measure, Utah is, and deserves to be, the envy of its peers. Utah leads the country in job growth, and the state’s economy has grown at twice the rate of the nation at large. Utah’s income tax reforms adopted in 2007 established a model for other states to follow. But today, some of these gains are being undone—not by conscious policy choices, but by their absence.

Sales Taxes on Soda, Candy, and Other Groceries, 2018

When policymakers get in the habit of handpicking goods for which the sales tax does or does not apply, the tax base simultaneously erodes and becomes more complex.

Sales Tax Base Broadening: Right-Sizing a State Sales Tax

Due in part to historical accident and also to the proliferation of exemptions, the effectiveness of the state sales tax continues to erode. The median state sales tax, which should apply to all personal consumption, is nonly applied to 23 percent of personal consumption.

Arizona Should Expand Its Sales Tax Base Instead of Raising the Rate

Potential Colorado Ballot Measure Shows How Not to Design a Sales Tax

Kansas Looks at Filling Revenue Gap with Sales Tax Base Broadening

Punching the Meal Ticket: Local Option Meals Taxes in the States

Options for Broadening the U.S. Tax Base

Gov. Pence’s Plan Gets it Right on Sales Tax Simplification

New NBER Paper Analyzes Sales Tax on Services: A Wonkish Review

Map: State Sales Taxes and Clothing Exemptions

The Sales Tax Base Makes Headlines

North Carolina Considers Impressive Tax Reform Options

Sales Tax Complexity: Valentine’s Day Edition

Ohio Tax Plan Broadens Sales Tax, Lowers Income Tax, Includes “Small Business” Gimmick

2013 State Business Tax Climate Index: Sales Tax Component

2013 State Business Tax Climate Index: Results

D.C. Food Trucks Now Collecting 10 Percent Food Tax

The Two Hardest (But Most Important) Sales Tax Reforms

Rhode Island Budget Includes Tax Amnesty, Cigarette Tax Increase