A full report of the students' findings was recently presented to the Governor's Tax Review Commission.
All figures have a margin of error of plus or minus five percent.
It is not clear if taxing goods on the Internet would produce sufficient revenue to offset the loss of revenue from food sales. The study showed that 37 percent of Utahns have purchased items online within the past year, while 54 percent said they plan to purchase online sometime in the future. As illustrated by this dramatic range, the uncertainty in predicting Internet sales could make forecasting state tax revenues from the Internet very difficult. The students' research shows that purchases on the Internet are correlated with higher income. Without an Internet tax, a greater proportion of sales tax revenue in the future will come from individuals with lower household income.