Sponsor: Senator Clint Penzo
This bill, SB7, modifies Arkansas Code § 26-73-115 regarding sales and use tax reports. Currently, only the chief executive officers of counties, cities, or towns can request these reports from the Department of Finance and Administration.
The key change in this bill is to allow members of the General Assembly to also request these reports.
The reports list businesses that remit sales and use taxes within the jurisdiction of the requesting entity. This means a member of the General Assembly could request a report for a specific county, city, or town.
The bill also sets a limit on the frequency of requests to no more than quarterly and requires the Department of Finance and Administration to provide the requested information within 30 days.
Okay, so we all know about sales tax – that extra bit of money we pay when we buy stuff. It helps pay for important things in our city and state.
Now, imagine there's a big list that shows which stores in your city collected sales tax and how much. Right now, only the mayor can ask to see that list. It helps them make sure the city is getting all the money it should.
This new rule would let other people see that list too, like the people who make laws for the whole state. They could check if stores in your city are paying the right amount of tax. It's kind of like a check-up to make sure everything is fair and no one is trying to cheat.
