House backs 'taxpayer receipt' prototype to show where Utah tax dollars go

The Utah House on Feb. 27 approved House Bill 129, a transparency measure that would put a taxpayer 'receipt' prototype on transparent.utah.gov so residents can enter an income or sales‑tax figure and see how those dollars were allocated across budget categories.

Representative Wilson, sponsor of HB129, told the House the project is a conceptual mockup and the first step would be an online tool allowing users to estimate their share of state tax contributions and then drill into budget buckets. “The first step in this process will be to put, hopefully, on the transparent.utah.gov website this document ... where people can go in and enter the amount of income tax that they paid,” he said.

Supporters across the floor praised the idea as a way to educate taxpayers and stimulate informed conversation about budget priorities. Representatives asked whether the tool could include property-tax allocations; the sponsor said the initial mockup focuses on sales and income taxes and property‑tax detail could be added if technology and data access permit.

Representative Hutchings urged layered definitions so users could click from a high‑level category (for example, "economic development" or "social services") into more detailed explanations of what each category includes. Representative Briscoe described classroom exercises using similar budgeting tools and encouraged robust public-facing information.

House members voted to pass HB129 by recorded count: 71 yea, 0 nay. The bill will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.