The House voted 70-4 to close records of individual tax payments by restaurants under local advertising and promotion (so-called hamburer) taxes. Republican Rep. Micah Neal, who owns a Springdale restaurant, said it was easy to calculate a restaurant’s gross receipts from the reports and the information should be sealed. Gross collections would still be reported.

The information has been widely distributed for years and provides a lot of interesting fodder for business reporters, including dominance by chain restaurants in most markets.

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No more if the Senate approves this legislation.

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