Extending the State Sales Tax to Labor and Services
Issue Overview: The current Idaho state sales tax applies only to goods sold. In recent years, some legislators have supported the concept of expanding the state sales tax to also include labor and services. They content the current system is outdated, and should be expanded to reflect the state's "new" service-based economy.
Issue Background: This would be a dramatic shift in the current tax system, and would nearly double the amount of revenue collected from sales tax. Expanding the tax base would broadly impact the Idaho economy, businesses and consumers at every level, and would significantly increase the revenue stream available to grow government.
NFIB Position: Ninety-three percent of NFIB/Idaho members oppose expanding the sales tax to include labor and services and 89 percent of NFIB/Idaho members would oppose a sales tax on labor and services even if the overall sales tax rate were lowered.
Issue Status: Effort to extend the sales tax to services went nowhere.
