Legislation has been enacted to bring South Dakota law into conformity with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax (SST) Agreement, effective July 1 2010, which will help to simplify the tax collection procedures as well as state and local tax structure.

A new bill called the Fair Taxation Bill has been introduced to the Missouri House of Representatives for the November election.  If passed, the bill would eliminate the income tax and replace it with a sales tax of 5.11 percent on retail sales and taxable services.

In an effort to soften the blow of the expected $400 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year starting 1 July 2010, the Kansas House Taxation Committee will work for two weeks, starting Monday, 8 February 2010, reviewing two bills that would eliminate different state sales tax exemptions.  Between the two bills, some of the proposals would eliminate the exemption for churches and other nonprofit organizations, and another proposal would require the 5.3% state sales tax to be paid on Kansas Lottery tickets, which are currently exempt.

The Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee has approved a bill to send to the Senate floor that would eliminate the sales tax on groceries once the state revenues are able to recover.  This measure will also require the state to reimburse cities and counties for the local sales tax losses.

A local House committee in Pierre has voted down a bill that would have allowed towns in South Dakota to raise the sales tax by one percent.  The bill would have also required that a city inform voters how long the tax would be in effect and when it would end.

Members of the Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee have approved a measure to exempt school supplies from sales tax on purchases over $100 during the annual Back-to-School sales tax holiday in August.

South Dakota Democrats are sponsoring House Bill 1255, which aims to exempt groceries from the state’s 4% food sales tax while increasing the general sales tax to 4.3%.  This tax would not affect locals, which could still tax food and other purchases at 2%.  South Dakota is only one of 14 states to tax unprepared food.

The South Dakota bill that would have eliminated the 4% state tax on some food while raising taxes on others has been killed in the House, and is going back to the Chamber for reconsideration.

On 16 January 2010, the “Amazon Bill” was a read a third time, and passed with a 70% vote in the Virginia State Senate.  The bill would apply the state and local sales tax to online purchases from state-based businesses that affiliate with multinational online companies.  The bill will now go to the State House of Representatives, where it is expected to have stronger opposition.