HB 231 Utah House · 2026 General Session

Restaurant Tax Repeal Amendments

HB 231 repeals Utah counties' authority to tax food and alcoholic beverages sold at restaurants, as well as "customized prepared food" sold at convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. It allows counties to instead impose a tax on other taxable transactions (like non-food items) at a rate that generates equivalent revenue. The bill directly affects restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores that sell prepared food for immediate consumption. It makes no new spending and shifts the tax base without changing overall revenue levels for counties.

Bill status failed 2 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Failed

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Last action Mar 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill fundamentally changes the restaurant tax by replacing the repeal of the tax with a new structure that taxes taxable transactions (excluding food and ingredients) instead. It shifts the legislative focus from removing the tax authority to defining specific terms like 'eligible transaction' and 'restaurant' to ensure the new tax calculation is precise. The bill also updates the code sections affected to include 59-12-602 for definitions.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from repealing the restaurant tax authority to establishing a new tax on non-food transactions to maintain revenue levels.

SCOPE

The bill was changed to replace the repeal of the restaurant tax with a new tax on taxable transactions, excluding food and ingredients, to generate equivalent revenue.

DEFINITION

New definitions were added to Section 59-12-602 to clarify terms such as 'eligible transaction,' 'restaurant,' 'convenience store,' and 'grocery store' to support the new tax structure.

REQUIREMENT

Provisions requiring counties to pledge tax revenue as security for debt before imposing the tax were removed, as the bill now focuses on defining the tax base rather than setting up debt security thresholds.

TECHNICAL

The bill was amended to include Section 59-12-602 (Definitions) in the list of affected code sections, whereas the previous version only listed Section 59-12-603.

Floor votes · House Mar 3, 2026

How they voted

21–52

Failed · 2 other

Total votes 75

Mar 3, 2026

D Democratic14

6 Yea 7 Nay 1

50% Nay

R Republican61

15 Yea 45 Nay 1

73% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 3, 2026

Vote failed

House Vote: fail (21-52-2)

house

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

House/ comm rpt/ substituted [House Judiciary Committee]

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Judiciary Committee]

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

House/ to standing committee [House Judiciary Committee]

lower

Jan 20, 2026

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor