The Utah Libertarian Party is happy to see others joining the call to repeal Utah’s sales tax on unprepared food. The abolition of that tax has been a part of our platform and campaigns for many years. Our candidates for Governor in 2016, Brian Kamerath, and 2020, Dr. Daniel Cottam, both included the repeal in their vision for our future.

It is no surprise that we would oppose this tax — we don’t much care for ANY taxation — but the tax on groceries is among the most unnecessary of Utah taxes, contributing a truly trivial amount of the total state budget while disproportionately affecting those in our state who have the lowest income. A wealthier person may spend some additional money on food, but they don’t eat more meals, and a family earning $150,000 per year does not spend five times as much on food as a household earning $30,000.

As a result, we then turn to ways to help those who we’ve hurt with the tax, distributing more money trying to compensate for the harm, as well as funding a bureaucracy to distribute the money — all money we would need to spend much less of if we would simply not do the harm in the first place.

It is truly a fine example of government breaking our legs, then handing us a crutch and expecting our gratitude for their largesse.

The Utah Libertarian Party calls upon the legislature to be smarter, and more compassionate — abolish the grocery tax in the upcoming session.

Barry Short

Chair, Utah Libertarian Party

Cedar City

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