No Sales Tax In Montana-Not Likely To Change In The Near Future

It's always a little fun to listen to a traveler through our state of Montana who can't understand why we don't have a sales tax! Somehow it just makes them happy!

On the other hand, when I travel and have to pay a sales tax, I forget and look stuptified at the sales clerks when they announce the tax on my items.

I don't want you to think we're a tax free state, in fact, some people in our state think we are horribly over taxed (isn't that true everywhere?)

We have state income taxes, property taxes (school tax, state education tax, county tax, economic development tax, county road tax, weed tax, county refuse tax, fire service, soil conservation, medical levy).

We also have vehicle registration taxes, gas taxes, phone taxes, utility tax, coal tax and I'm sure I've missed a few things here that are hidden, but really, we're not doing too bad.

Our State of Montana seems to be fiscally responsible at this point as well. We need to have a pretty big savings plan to cover a bad fire year. We have cut back our state funding of the Public School system over the last 15 years, making up for it on the local level. Some of our school funding this year was funded by Stimulus money, which won't be there year after year.

Personally I think a sales tax will not pass in our State of Montana in the near future, people just like the idea of the status quo.

Shop In Montana!