Tens of millions in tax breaks going to companies, Utah lawmakers don't know which ones

SALT LAKE CITY — (KUTV) — Who is getting millions in tax breaks? It's such a secret that the lawmakers who allocated the money can’t even find out.

During a special legislative session in 2018, lawmakers earmarked roughly $55 million to manufacturers. It’s money the state is expecting to get beginning Jan. 1, 2019 from out-of-sate online sales tax collections.

One lawmaker who is part of the Revenue and Tax Committee can be heard during the special session in July saying, “Today we have a combined amount of about $77 to $80 million that we’re going to be proposing of returning in lower taxes.”

Lowering taxes is not what State Senator Jim Dabakis (D-Salt Lake) calls it.

“It's just the way things are done in Utah; it’s corporate welfare," Dabakis said.

Dabakis can be heard during July’s special session saying, “It is a big mistake to earmark this amount of money to a few manufacturers and deprive the real issue.”

Dabakis says "the real issue" in Utah is a lack of funding for education.

Legislative Research and General Counsel Office records show the companies that got the $55 million are grouped under the title of "Machinery, Equipment or Parts." That's as specific as it gets. In fiscal year 2016, they got $122 million in tax exemptions. Dabakis says the $55 million was added to that this year to offset the increase in soon-to-be online sales tax.

“There’s no fingerprints anywhere — we don’t know what companies are getting it, we don’t know what lobbyists are there," Dabakis said. "We don’t know how the system works."

The Utah Tax Commission is the agency that tracks every penny, tax credit and exemption. They’re also the only ones who know which companies get the benefit.

"We know who the companies are, but all tax information, including sales tax purchases, those exemptions, are strictly confidential," saidCharlie Roberts, a spokesperson for the commission.

Roberts says state law prevents the public from seeing the flow of money. Even lawmakers like Dabakis were told they can’t find out which companies are getting the money.

“It’s protected from everyone," Roberts said. "So, if you’re company A,B, C — it’s protected. If you just opened up your own little business and you’re buying purchases that are exempt from sales tax, it’s protected as well.”

Roberts says lawmakers would need to change the law to open up the transparency of who can see the flow of money and which companies are getting the benefit.

“If people are interested in having the law changed, they need to contact their local legislator," Roberts said.

Of the lawmakers on the Revenue and Tax Committee who responded to email requests for information, none could say which companies would share in the $55 million.

Here is the list of all tax exemptions broken down by category (Fiscal Year 2016 is the most recent data available):