LOSTs in Detail: A Comparison of North Carolina’s Local Option Sales Tax Policy with Those of Other States

Local option sales taxes (LOSTs) are sales taxes adopted at the local level, usually by county or municipal governments, and typically passed by voter referendum. This report provides an explanation of LOSTs in North Carolina followed by a description of the key elements of North Carolina’s laws as compared with those of other states—with special attention paid to why some of the differences are in place. The report then presents information on LOSTs across the country and concludes with an overview of what elements of LOSTs are unique to North Carolina and a brief discussion of how this state measures up to others with regard to equity concerns. The analysis offered is current as of fall 2015.