State revenue sources: Sales tax, product specific taxation, income tax and user fees, with special reference to Utah

With increasing decentralization of power to individual states, it is critical to evaluate the revenue sources intended to fill state coffers. The four most prominent revenue instruments are: the sales taxation, product specific taxation, income taxation and user fees. In this essay each instrument is assessed by eight criteria: historical development, proportion of state funding, relative yield, revenue stability, tax base, administrative procedures and costs, economic distortions of behavior, theoretical justifications and equity.