Recently passed laws in California will affect several types of taxes, one in particular being the sales and use tax rate. Components of the statewide 7.25% sales and use tax rate change will change, effective July 1, 2004. Among these rate changes: (1) increases in the state portion of the sales and use tax rate by 0.5%, (2) decreases in the local sales and use tax rate by 0.5%, and (3) creation of the Fiscal Recovery Fund, requiring that the revenues from the new 0.5% state sales and use tax to be deposited into this fund and dedicated for the repayment of the deficit funding bond. For an update on this news item, click here. (California Tax Information Bulletin, Date Decided: November 18, 2003)