In most states, the tax base includes all tangible personal property and selected services.
All states provide exemptions for certain types of property.
Food is a good example. In some states food purchased in a market is generally exempt from tax, but specific types of food are taxable. Some states, like California, tax only a handful of services, while others, like Hawaii, tax a wide variety of services. Business would love to see uniformity in state tax bases. However, according to the Report, the members of the Project felt that state authority to determine taxability or exemption of goods and services should be preserved.