SB 91 revises Utah’s county tourism, recreation, cultural, convention, and airport facilities tax provisions by expanding the definition of “restaurant” for purposes of the 1% county restaurant tax. Beginning January 1, 2026, the bill treats certain customized prepared food sold by convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores as taxable under the county restaurant tax, even though those businesses are not otherwise restaurants under the statute. The bill also adds definitions for convenience store, gas station, grocery store, and customized prepared food, and makes related technical changes to the county tax statute.
The bill amends the county tax base in Section 59-12-603 so that counties may impose up to a 1% tax on alcoholic beverages, food and food ingredients, or prepared food sold by a restaurant, and on customized prepared food sold by a convenience store, gas station, or grocery store. It leaves in place the broader structure of the tourism-related county tax, including its authorized uses for tourism promotion and related facilities, and the existing administrative, distribution, and effective-date rules. No new appropriations are made, and the bill has a special effective date of January 1, 2026.
SB 91 changes Utah tax law by broadening the county restaurant tax base to reach certain prepared-food sales in convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores when the food is customized for immediate consumption. This affects county sales tax administration, merchants in those retail categories, and consumers purchasing made-to-order food items. Counties that already levy the tourism-related restaurant tax may collect revenue from a wider set of food sellers, while the Utah State Tax Commission continues to administer and distribute the tax under existing procedures.
The bill appears to have been generally well received in the Legislature. It advanced unanimously through Senate committee and the full Senate, and it also received a favorable House committee recommendation before passing the House on third reading with a narrower but still affirmative margin. The voting pattern suggests broad support for the policy change, with no recorded committee testimony or transcript debate in the provided materials.
The main policy issue is the expansion of the restaurant tax beyond traditional restaurants to include customized prepared food sold at convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. Supporters likely viewed this as a modernization or fairness adjustment that aligns tax treatment with the nature of the food sale, while any concern would center on whether the change burdens non-restaurant retailers and their customers or blurs the line between restaurant and grocery/fuel sales. The House floor vote was less unanimous than earlier stages, indicating some residual concern, but the bill still passed comfortably.