How Kansas' sales tax increase went into effect

(WICHITA, Kan.) — A family of four can expect to pay an extra $266 dollars a year on average.

On Thursday, the Kansas sales tax increased 1% - to 6.3% statewide. The increase is expected to bring more than $300 million into the state's general fund.

You may, or may not, have noticed the increase on your purchases Thursday. That's because others did a lot of work behind the scenes.

When you walk into Wichita's Dress Gallery, you see satin, shine, and sparkle. When April Huang, the store's owner, walked in Thursday morning, she saw a sales tax increase.

Everything Huang rings up now will carry a little more sales tax. It took a little more work for her to make the transition. "It's just something really simple on the register," said Huang. "Key in some simple numbers, that's all."

When you're in Star Lumber, you're more likely to see power tools than a purple gown.  And it's not nearly as easy to change how these registers ring up purchases.

"The tax reporting at Star Lumber is brutally complicated, " said Tom Luther. He programs all the computers that run the registers for Star Lumber. All those registers automatically increased the sales tax, thanks to Luther's program.

Luther programs in all the tax exemptions for projects and supplies -- which vary depending on the contracting job. He used his computer to program the change in every register in six stores across two states.

"It wasn't that hard for me to do, but I'm going to say -- the reason is because I have complete control over the software," said Luther. "Putting in a couple of days, 16 hours, seems pretty minor."

Unless you compare it to Huang's few seconds of work. The sales tax increase may not have affected your day. It took some work to make sure it didn't.