Salt Lake Chamber has completed its white paper on tax reform and presented it to the leaders of the Utah Legislature. The presentation was made by Derek Miller, chamber president and CEO, and Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Group and immediate past chairman of the chamber.
Following the past legislative session and the Legislature’s efforts to restructure Utah’s tax code, the chamber held eight industry-specific working groups to listen to business leaders, gather input and consider ideas and solutions for tax restructuring. Three hundred business leaders participated in these groups, resulting in the chamber’s white paper on tax reform.
According to Miller, the three overarching recommendations in the white paper include:
1. Foremost, that the purpose of any change to the current tax code must always be continuing the state’s economic prosperity.
2. That the changes adhere to the principles wisely put into place decades ago of simplicity, efficiency, flexibility, transparency and stability.
3. That changes avoid taxation of services that result in tax pyramiding (double taxation or a tax on a tax) and exclude business-to-business inputs.
“Utah has long benefited from strategic economic and tax policies that have contributed to Utah’s exceptional business environment,” said Miller in a letter to the membership of the chamber. “We look forward to our continued work with the business community to advocate and advance your interests while we work with legislative leadership as they make important decisions for the state’s future.”
The Salt Lake Chamber is organizing a group of industry experts to provide input to legislators and task force members as the tax reform process continues.
The white paper can be accessed at https://bit.ly/2zf0cDy.