Don’t Forget Laser Guns, UFC Bouts, Uranium Hexafluoride…

Kudos to Albuquerque Business First for listing “10 of the most unusual exemptions” to the state’s gross receipts tax (GRT). Fuel for small planes, website hosting, commission for travel agents — it’s curious, what economic activities legislators choose to award with special treatment.

But the Foundation has its own list of bizarre GRT perks. We’d add a few to ABF’s list. Deductions are applied to receipts from:

* professional boxing, wrestling, and martial arts contests

* leases on manufactured homes (but only for durations of longer than one month)

* research, development, testing, and evaluation services for the U.S. Air Force’s troubled Operationally Responsive Space Program

* sales by “a qualified contractor” of “directed energy and satellite-related inputs”

* the sale and installation of solar-energy systems (of course)

* the sale of uranium hexafluoride from enriching uranium

The GRT is a messy monstrosity, and it needs serious simplification — and reduction. But as long as legislators and governors seek votes for their support for “creating jobs,” the GRT code will remain riddled with exemptions and deductions of dubious justification.