Connecticut struggles to find right rate for sales tax
- Sep 12, 2017 | Gail Cole
Connecticut is in crisis. People are moving away, businesses are leaving, and the state is operating — in deficit — without a budget.
To date, Governor Dannel P. Malloy has proposed three budgets for the 2018/2019 fiscal year. The first version kept the sales tax rate at 6.35 percent and boasted no “adjustments to any major tax rate.” The most recent iteration, introduced Sept. 8, included “the best ideas from legislators of both political parties.” Among them: raising the state sales tax rate to 6.5 percent, and raising the sales tax on restaurant meals to 7 percent statewide. It was, he said, “A budget I can sign.”
Senate President Martin M. Looney said in August that a sales tax hike was “inevitable.” Yet the idea may already be off the table less than a week after being proposed. House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, who previously recommended increasing the sales tax rate to 6.85 percent, now says the goal is to keep the current rate. Doing so would put the House more in line with the Senate. It would also cut approximately $100 million in annual revenue — money the state sorely needs.
A higher tax rate for sales of food and beverages is still on the table. But if earlier budget negotiations are any indication, there are no guarantees.
Find up-to-date information about Connecticut sales tax rates here.