Voters to see Use Tax on the ballot, again

By Carson Blake

Voters will see Proposition 1, also known as the use tax, on the April 5, 2022 ballot. Asking to add a separate local and county sales tax on out of state internet purchases. Currently, local and county sales tax are not collected on out of state internet sales. The state of Missouri was the last state to pass the ability of a use tax from the Wayfair legislation, signed into law on June 30, 2021. This law allows state and local jurisdictions to collect online use tax on out of state internet sales, if voted into action. Voting yes for Proposition 1 would tax online, out of state, purchases at the same rate as walking into a local store. Simply, the consumer will pay the same amount of tax online as they would in local stores. Under Proposition 1, all items would be taxed as if they were bought in a physical store. For example reflecting the tax reduction on items such as food. This is not the first time voters have seen the use tax on the ballot. In a previous attempt, the use tax failed in both Boone County and the City of Ashland. Voters will see it again on the April ballot. The current Boone County sales tax is 1.75%, the City of Ashland sales tax is 2.5%, and each use tax will be listed on the ballot separately. “Per the Department of Revenue, Ashland had roughly a million in online taxable sales reported for 2021. That equates to $25,000 in use tax revenue for Ashland” said Ashland City Administrator Kyle Michel.

See more in this weeks Boone County Journal