Effective July 1, 2013, Arkansas’s state sales and use tax rate will increase from 6% to 6.5%. Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment to levy the temporary rate increase at the November 6, 2012 general election in order to provide funding for highways, bridges, roads, and other surface transportation projects. The temporary tax will apply to all taxable sales except food and food ingredients and will be collected, reported, and paid in the same manner as the general sales and use tax. The rate increase will be collected for approximately 10 years and will end when there are no bonds outstanding to which tax collections have been pledged. For an update on this news item, click here. (Ballot Issue 1, November 6, 2012)