"This is the most regressive of taxes the citizens must bear," said Linda Hilton, of the Coalition of Religious Communities. Only eight states still tax basic foodstuffs, she said.

A dozen supporters of the tax's removal sat in the meeting wearing tags that read, "It's simple. It's fair!"

Removing the tax would be easy, Hilton said, because the U.S. Department of Agriculture already has defined basic food necessities for the food stamp program.

Because most cash registers are programmed to exempt food stamps, extending it to cover all food would be relatively painless, she said.

Restaurants, fast food and processed snacks from convenience stores would continue to be taxed, Hilton said.

"No issue has more public support than removing the tax on food," Hilton said, noting Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has made the elimination a priority of his administration.

The task force is studying an overhaul of the state's tax system. A recent Salt Lake Tribune poll found that 67 percent of Utahns would like to see the sales tax on food eliminated.

The Rev. Erin Gilmore of the Holladay United Church of Christ told the subcommittee taxing food is a "morally unjustifiable" burden on society's most vulnerable. Eliminating the tax, she said, "benefits those who are struggling day-to-day to get the basics of life."

Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, asked the group how the state could make up the estimated $150 million that would be lost. Many local governments depend on sales tax to provide the basics of government, he said. "How do we then provide these services? A policy change like this could adversely affect many [citizens] as well."

The advocates maintain the $150 million lost could be made up in other areas of a comprehensive tax reform or through expanding sales tax to cover business services.

Dave Iltis, a citizen, calculated from published tax figures that increasing the sales tax on everything else by 0.5 percent would make up the revenue loss.

Another advocacy group, Utah Issues, has recommended the task force consider a refundable grocery tax credit for the poor. The tax-refund option has attracted the interest of many legislators as a compromise to eliminating the sales tax on groceries.

Utah Issues' Sarah Wilhelm acknowledged the paperwork is the biggest negative of the tax-refund plan.

"We don't think either plan is perfect. We just want to give some relief to the poor," she said.

But Hilton said the plan would be "very complicated and very burdensome" and would not help financially marginal working families.

In other tax reform discussions, the subcommittee on income tax submitted a draft proposal to the reform committee as a whole to revise the way corporate income tax is calculated.

The proposed formula would benefit companies who concentrate their property and workers in Utah.

The changes to corporate income tax may also include a minimum filing threshold. Depending on components, the changes could cost the state from $55 million to $80 million in revenues that proponents hope will be recouped through related economic stimulation.

Such reform falls short of the Huntsman's request for the elimination of income tax on business.