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.

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.

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.

Florida Governor Crist is proposing a 10-day Back-To-School sales tax holiday on clothing under $100 and school supplies under $10, as part of a tax relief measure on the state budget.

A House committee endorsed legislation that would raise the state sales tax rate by one half percent to 5.5 percent. The tax rate will decrease annually until it reaches its original rate of 5 percent starting in July 2014.

On 21 January 2010, Senate Bill 660, also known as the ”Amazon Tax” Bill, was proposed in the Virginia State Senate.  The proposed Bill states that a dealer with at least $10,000 in  cumulative gross receipts in sales during the preceding four quarterly periods will have nexus, and will therefore be required to register with the State for sales and use tax purposes.  To date, 27 January 2010, the Bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance; check back here for updates, or track its progress at: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=101&typ=bil&val=sb660.

Voters in Sherwood, Arkansas may be asked if they are willing to have a 1% increase in the sales tax for two years. 18 months of the increase would fund a new, larger library, and 6 months would be used to fund an animal shelter. The Central Arkansas Library System is currently taking phone opinion polls and a public forum was held in January 2010.

The Cody City Council plans to decide whether to include a 1 cent capital facilities tax on the August 2010 ballot. The Council plans to come to a consensus in February 2010, after gathering more public feedback. The sales tax increase would be used for the renovation and modernization of the existing West Park Hospital emergency department’s facilities.

On 7 January 2010, the Tempe City Council voted to include a sales tax increase proposal on the general ballot in May 2010. If passed, the proposal would increase the sales tax rate from 1.8% to 2.0%.