what is a broad or narrow tax base 
a tax base may be broad or narrow depending on the number of people within a tax jurisdiction who are subject to a tax a luxury tax for example may be levied only on those who buy yachts or high end cars making it a narrow tax base most state sales taxes are a narrow base they omit necessities like food and medicine to avoid over taxing the poorest residents who pay a disproportionately high sales tax on goods as a percentage of their income the bottom linethere are a variety of tax bases at the local state and federal levels a single individual may have assets or participate in activities in several distinct tax bases for example if you work you pay income taxes placing you within the tax base of the united states if you own a home you re part of the local tax base and are subject to property taxes if you buy a drink your purchase is part of the sales tax base and if that drink is alcoholic your purchase may be part of a sin tax base as well 