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2005 General Session
2005 General Session
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Tax Exemptions - Background Tax Exemptions - Background |
Statewide sales tax in Wyoming is four cents per dollar. Counties have the option of adding up to two additional cents per dollar for general operations and capital construction projects, so sales tax in some Wyoming communities ranges up to six cents per dollar.
HB 160 and HB 214 both proposed exempting the sale of food for domestic home consumption from paying sales tax.
HB 160 would have simultaneously increased the statewide sales tax on all other taxable goods from the present four percent to four and three-tenths percent (4.3%), to offset the loss in revenue that would come from exempting groceries from sales tax. HB 214 did not propose any sales tax increase for other goods.
Both bills proposed using general fund money to reimburse local governments for the revenue they would lose by not taxing groceries. Since HB 160 included the offsetting sales tax increase on other taxable goods, it appropriated less money ($4.9 million) to maintain revenue for local governments. Under HB 214, $16 million would be appropriated to reimburse local governments.
Supporters of both bills argued that sales tax is a regressive form of taxation, especially when food and clothing are included, as they currently are in Wyoming. When basic necessities that people have no choice about buying are taxed, low-income families end up paying a higher proportion of their money on items subject to sales tax. So, sales tax on basic necessities such as food disproportionately impacts poorer people.
Some legislators opposed HB 160 because they didn’t like raising sales tax on other taxable items to offset the revenue lost by exempting food from sales tax. Some opponents preferred yet another 2005 bill, HB 7, which proposed lowering the statewide sales tax by one percent across the board for all taxable goods. And Rep. Pete Anderson (R-H10, Pine Bluffs) explained his vote against HB 214 in the House Revenue Committee by saying that he opposed the sales tax exemption on groceries because it wasn’t for economic development.
The House Revenue Committee tabled HB 160 and passed HB 214 on a 5-4 vote. The House Appropriations Committee amended HB 214 to remove the $16 million reimbursement for local governments, and then unanimously passed the bill. The bill died on general file in the House without being debated or voted on.
The vote listed below is the House Revenue Committee vote on HB 214. A YES vote means the legislator wanted to remove sales tax on groceries. A NO vote means the legislator did not want to remove sales tax on groceries.
| House Revenue Committee | HB 214 1/28/05 |
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| H 10 | Rodney Anderson (R - Laramie - chairman) | No |
| H 47 | Kurt Bucholz (R - Carbon/Albany) | No |
| H 36 | Gerald Gay (R - Natrona) | Yes |
| H 59 | Mary Meyer Gilmore (D - Natrona) | Yes |
| H 37 | Steve Harshman (R - Natrona) | Yes |
| H 39 | John Hastert (D - Sweetwater) | Yes |
| H 55 | David Miller (R - Fremont) | No |
| H 9 | Bryan Pedersen (R - Laramie) | No |
| H 56 | Tom Walsh (R - Natrona) | Yes |