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SALT LAKE CITY — The new year always means new state laws and the ones that may affect you the most involves taxes. Beginning in 2019, when you buy online, you’ll also be paying Utah sales tax.
You may have already been warned with emails by out-of-state online retailers you’ve shopped with in the past.
“You could call it a new tax, in the sense that in various places before that, sales tax was not collected, but now it is,” said Rusty Cannon, vice president of the Utah Taxpayer Association.
In the past, Utahns were supposed to pay sales tax for any out-of-state purchases when filing their state income taxes. Statistics suggested just 1 percent of Utahns complied.
Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can require out-of-state retailers to include state sales tax. Utah was one of six states to pass legislation taking advantage of the change.
Lawmakers who supported the online sales tax said it will help to level the playing field for brick-and-mortar stores who complained about losing sales to customers who could buy it online, without paying any sales tax.
State officials expected an estimated addition of $200 million a year in collected taxes, just from online sales tax. So far, lawmakers have cut other taxes in Utah by $85 million.
“The Utah Taxpayers Association is always advocating for fair and lower taxes, and anytime there is an increase in revenue for government, we would like to see that returned to taxpayers,” Cannon added. “The legislature made that promise that they would do that with this $200 million, and we want to make sure they continue to fulfill that promise.”
Other laws
Other laws were scheduled to go into effect, as well.
- Motor home owners will now pay an age-based registration fee — $640 for units under three years old and as low as $90 for a vehicle older than 15 years.
- Charter schools in Utah will have more oversight beginning in 2019, including senate approval now required of members who sit on the state charter school board.
