There is. Where do you want to start?
The state budget is a tripod balanced on three taxes: sales (29% of total), gaming (22.5% ) and modified business taxes (15%). Those aren't rates, but rather the amount each type of tax contributes to the state General Fund.
Casino winnings — theirs, not yours — are taxed at 7.75% and deposited directly into the state General Fund, which functions like a checkbook. The state’s budgetary needs are covered by General Fund withdrawals. But don’t leave uncashed slot vouchers lying about: Three-fourths of their total value is confiscated by the state, with the balance defaulting to the casino.
Car rentals are taxed at 10%, the Government Services Fee. As its name implies, this also defaults to the General Fund. In Clark and Washoe counties, each imposes an additional two percent — minus a small "collection allowance" to reimburse the state for handling the paperwork.
There's a state sales tax, two percent, which goes toward the General Fund. Other retail-based imposts are the Local School Support Tax, a 2.6% levy that goes to the State Schools Distributive Fund.
Then there's a half-percent Basic City-County Relief Tax. "For in-state business returns, the revenue is distributed to the county where the sale was made; for out-of-state returns, it is distributed to counties and cities based on a population formula," says Stephanie Klapstein of the Nevada Department of Taxation.
One-and-three-quarter percent of sales tax is designated as the Supplemental City-County Relief Tax, for which local governments have to qualify by means of a statutory formula. Cities and counties have the discretion of imposing their own sales taxes (of which we’re about to see an example). For instance, heading north, once you step across Sahara Avenue to have dinner at Lucky Dragon Casino, the tax on your purchase will be higher than if you’d stayed south of Sahara and eaten in unincorporated Clark County at SLS Las Vegas.
Then there’s the hotel tax. In Las Vegas' "primary gaming corridor" it’s 13.3%, of which 5.5% goes to the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Bureau (which means you’re bankrolling those "What Happens Here, Stays Here" ads), one percent to transportation, .38% to the Nevada Tourism Board, 1.6% to the Clark County School District, one percent to the Clark County General Fund, another percentage to the state’s General Fund, one percent to the education fund (Nevada is constitutionally required to maintain a school system), and one percent for teacher salaries, with the remainder going to fund Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the planned NFL stadium — which the state is stuck with, even though backer Sheldon Adelson has pulled out.
Finally, if you’re a property owner, the state collects 17 cents on every $100 in assessed value, money that goes to the Debt Fund. If you feel like taking a deep dive into where that money is going, mouse over to the "Red Book," which outlines each year’s property-tax allocations.
And, after all that, the casinos hit you with resort fees, phone bills (even if you never pick up the phone) and, lately, parking fees. So it’s understandable that you’d feel like you’ve been nickeled to death before you even get to your hotel room. Going to Las Vegas requires an ever-bigger bankroll … which is all the more reason for the value-conscious to be on the lookout for bargains at LVA!
