SALT LAKE CITY — A bill introduced in the Utah State Legislature would impose a new tax on pornographic websites, while a separate piece of legislation closes a tax loophole on streaming services.
Senate Bill 73, sponsored by Sen. Cal Musselman, R-West Haven, would impose a special tax on porn sites with the money earmarked for youth mental health resources.
"It would be collected at point of sale. So if you have a subscription, there would be a tax collected, a standard sales tax, plus the excise tax," Sen. Musselman said in a recent interview with FOX 13 News.
The legislation is a continuation of bills in the Utah State Capitol that have declared pornography a public health crisis and required sites to age-verify users before they can see adult content. In response, Pornhub and other major adult content websites have blocked users in Utah from accessing their content.
Sen. Musselman pointed to recent court rulings that he said allow the bill to go forward with the special tax. But the Free Speech Coalition, a group that represents the adult entertainment industry, said in a statement to FOX 13 News it had concerns about the bill and the First Amendment.
"Porn isn't some magical category of speech separate from movies, streaming services or other forms of entertainment. Adult businesses already pay taxes on the income they earn, just as every other business does. Taxing them because of imagined harms is not only dangerous to our industry, it sets a dangerous precedent for government power," the group said.
SB73 was expected to get its first hearing Thursday before the Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip Chris Wilson, R-Logan, has introduced Senate Bill 162 that imposes a consumer sales tax on subscription based streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max or Disney+. Speaking to reporters, Sen. Wilson said his bill closes a tax loophole on existing law that allowed Utah to impose a tax for streaming audio and video services.
"It's sales tax that they've been collecting anywhere on downloads and streaming," he said. "It just clarifies that both of them are sales tax."
SB162 passed out of the Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee unanimously and is currently before the full Utah State Senate.
