Arizona Tax Expenditure Reports are studies prepared for the Governor and the Legislature by the Arizona Department of Revenue's Office of Economic Research and Analysis. The reports are prepared in compliance with A.R.S. §42-1005.
Tax expenditures are provisions within the law (exemptions, exclusions, deductions and credits) that are designed to encourage certain kinds of activity or to aid taxpayers in certain categories. Such provisions, when enacted into law, result in a loss of tax revenues, thereby reducing the amount of revenues available for state (as well as local) programs. In effect, the fiscal impact of implementing a tax expenditure would be similar to a direct expenditure of state funds. This report provides a list of tax expenditures, plus, whenever possible, details the approximate costs of exempting certain types of income, goods, services or property from their respective tax statutes.
The purpose of these reports is to provide a better understanding of the costs associated with the existing set of tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions and credits. There are sections on every tax imposed in Arizona. In each section, provisions dealing with that specific tax type are analyzed. The analysis includes a detailed explanation of the provision as well as the approximate cost of that provision, if possible. Sections pertaining to tax types not administered by the Arizona Department of Revenue were reviewed by the agency administering the tax. Any figures presented in these sections were provided by that agency.