The Honorable Lyle W. Hillyard, Chair
Tax Restructuring and Equalization Task Force
Utah State Senate
320 State Capitol, P.O. Box 145115
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114

Dear Chair Hillyard:

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)1 is a national trade association which brings together the shared interests of more than 340 broker-dealers, investment banks and asset managers, many of whom have a strong presence in Utah. We are proud that, in 2018, our industry managed more than $121 billion in assets for Utah residents & institutional clients and raised over $4 billion for Utah municipalities and businesses.

We applaud the State for creating this Task Force to explore various revenue generating alternatives, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide input. We understand that a broad tax on services, which was contemplated earlier this year, remains under consideration. Should you decide to pursue a service tax, we would strongly encourage you to exempt investment advice and brokerage fees. Taxing such services could discourage people from seeking financial advice or cause them to seek out-of-state advice, neither of which is a desirable outcome.

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