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Legislature Considering Exempting Private Golf Courses from Sales Tax

A bill that would exempt privately owned golf courses from charging sales tax for rounds of golf played at those golf courses has been introduced in the Utah State Senate and has already passed third reading on a 23-4 vote.
The bill is sponsored by Senator Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City.
He explained that the goal of the bill is to level the playing field between privately owned courses and publicly owned courses.  The current law requires all golfers to pay sales tax on a round of golf at both private and public courses, but the publicly owned golf courses are perceived to have a competitive advantage because the privately owned courses pay property taxes, and the publicly owned courses don’t.
Golfers who are interested in the issue can read more details about the bill on the Utah State Legislature web page. The bill is number SB96.
How does it affect Utah golfers?
(1)   It will effectively reduce the total price of a green fee at a privately owned golf course unless the owners decide to use the funds to cover operating expenses. It will be a savings to either the golfer or the golf course owner, or a combination of the two.
(2)  It will reduce the sales tax revenue for the state in whatever amount is involved.
(3)  It may shift some rounds played at municipal courses to rounds played at privately owned courses if the privately owned courses choose to lower their rates.
Privately owned courses that are accessible to the public that would be financially benefitted by this bill include: Bear Lake, Bear Lake West, Ben Lomond, Cascade, Central Valley, Coral Canyon, Fore Lakes, Glen Eagle, Glenmoor, Golf in the Round, Homestead, Kokopelli, Mulligan’s in Ogden, Overlake, Paradise, Red Ledges, Remuda, Round Valley, Sand Hollow, Schneiter’s Bluff, Schneiter’s Riverside, Schneiter’s Pebblebrook, Sherwood Hills, Skyline Mountain, Sleepy Ridge, Stansbury, Sun Hills, Sun River, Swan Lakes, Talons Cove, Thanksgiving Point, The Barn, The Ranches, Valderra at the ledges, Victory Ranch, Wolf Creek.
Country clubs will be minimally affected. Most country club members pay a monthly membership fee that is not subject to sales tax.