Food tax exemption returns.A bill sponsored by Sen. Bud Canada, D-Hot Springs, has made it through the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation with only one dissenting vote. Senate Bill 12, Canada's most recent effort to get "certain foods" exempted from the state's 4 1/2-percent sales and use tax Sales and use tax refers to:
Getting it past the full Senate is another matter. Canada says he hasn't secured the votes to bring it before that body yet. Testifying before the committee were, among others, Richard Weiss, director of the state Department of Finance and Administration; Ken Watson
James Kenneth Watson (August 12, 1904 - July 26, 1986) was a Canadian curler. Watson was born in Minnedosa, Manitoba and moved to Winnipeg later. , head of the Arkansas Municipal League; and Rich Nagel of the Arkansas Education Association. All three spoke against the bill, but in vain. Canada's bill would subtract about $140 million from the state's general revenue pool over the four years, during which the exemption would be "phased in." The sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. on soft drinks would not be affected by the measure. The administration of Gov. Mike Huckabee  This article or section contains information about one or more candidates in an upcoming or ongoing election.Content may change as the election approaches. , which Weiss was there to represent, can't be looking favorably on the Canada proposal. Its $80 million tax reform package relies heavily on an income tax rebate tax rebate n → devolución f de impuestos; reembolso fiscal tax rebate n → ristourne f d'impôt tax rebate . "It's at odds with the governor's tax program," Weiss told the committee. "We can't afford to do both programs and still provide services." One of the administration's chief criticisms of the Canada bill is the hardship it would cause small retailers, which will have to deal with three tax rates for the items they sell. But Canada claims this is a non-issue. "All they have to do is push a button," Canada says. "All cash registers are computers now, and all they have to do is push a button." The AEA's Nagel acknowledged it was hard to oppose Canada, because the longtime senator has "always been a friend of public education," but he also testified that though the AEA AEA Atomic Energy Authority AEA n abbr (BRIT) (= Atomic Energy Authority) → consejo de energía nuclear; (BRIT) (SCOL) (= Advanced Extension Award) → has a long history of supporting a more progressive tax policy, it can't get behind this bill. "Of the $140 million cut from general revenue," Nagel told the committee, "about half would have gone to public education." Only Sen. John Brown, R-Siloam Springs, voted against the bill, which puts the Republican legislator LEGISLATOR. One who makes laws. 2. In order to make good laws, it is necessary to understand those which are in force; the legislator ought therefore, to be thoroughly imbued with a knowledge of the laws of his country, their advantages and defects; to in the ironic position of opposing a tax cut. Canada's bill won't affect sales tax levied by municipalities and counties. |
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