NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The state collects $7 billion from you through sales taxes, but did you know they're missing out on $6 billion more?

The state doesn't collect sales tax on almost half of the goods and services that it could.

"There are hundreds of other exemptions in the code," said taxpayer advocate Ben Cunningham.

There are enough tax exemptions in Tennessee code to be cut and pasted onto paper, with the list stretching from the door of the House chambers all the way to inside the Senate.

"There's always an argument that you pay sales tax on baby food but you don't pay sales tax on horse food," said state Sen. Joe Haynes.

That means you'll pay taxes for food at the grocery store, but farmers won't pay a dime in taxes to feed their livestock. Along the same vein, there's sales tax on the drugs to treat your dog but not to treat cows.

Overall, there are dozens of agricultural items that are tax free: combines, seeds and even bull sperm. Meanwhile, your gym membership will come without sales tax, but only if it meets certain specifications.

Admission for beauty pageants and rodeos comes tax free; tickets to a rock concert at the Sommet Center will cost you.

Like many other states, services are also tax exempt, meaning that you won't pay sales tax to get a manicure, but you would pay sales tax to buy the nail polish and do it yourself. Haircuts and weight-loss programs fall into that category.

So how did all of these exemptions get there?

It's up to the state Legislature to decide which items and services are exempt from sales tax. But some argue the real power to make those lies with the lobbyists.

"These special interests are so powerful that these exemptions stay there come hell or high water, and year in and year out, people try to get rid of them, but they're there like the rock of Gibraltar," said Cunningham.

Haynes has been in the Legislature for more than 20 years. He doesn't deny the power of a good lobbyist, but said there has always been a good argument made of the exemption. Sometimes it's even been vital to keep jobs in the state.

"It's a balancing act between trying to do what's the right thing for attracting business, keeping business and making jobs available for the people in Tennessee and at the same time trying to be fair to the public and make sure you have the revenue to run government," he said.

But he has seen how a million dollars here and a million dollars there have totaled to a billion dollars, and he said it's nearly impossible to get a tax exemption passed in this current climate. Recent attempts to exempt football merchandise and mulch didn't have much luck.

"If we had it to do over again with the sales tax, would there be as many exemptions as there are today? Probably not," said Haynes.

But some say all these exemptions shift the tax burden off of special interest groups and on to the everyday citizen.

"The taxpayers unfortunately don't have a lobbyist," said Cunningham.

And while ending these tax breaks come up every time there's a money crunch, most don't see it happening any time soon.

Sales tax exemptions can be found in every state, but some say they matter more in Tennessee because the state budget is so dependent upon sales tax.

While the state has made cuts this year, some states did raise sales taxes and start taxing services to deal with their budget crisis.