The price you pay for some of your favorite snacks and refreshments is changing slightly today (Thursday). Iowa’s joining other states to try and make the taxes charged on some items uniform no matter where they’re purchased. David Kemnitz of the Iowa Department of Revenue says one change involves candy and gum. He says candy will be taxable unless it contains flower of any kind, and gum will become taxable. Kemnitz says soft drinks will be taxed and some juices. He said previously, it there was a 15-percent or less juice content, it would be taxable. Now if they contain less than 50-percent vegetable or fruit juice, it’ll be taxed. Good news for fitness buffs who like to hydrate with a cold bottle of water. Bottles of water won’t be taxed unless you buy it in a restaurant — or if it’s flavored. While the changes may seem puzzling — Kemnitz says they’re all part of a plan. He says Iowa is participating along with a number of other states in the “streamline sales tax project.” The project is an effort to get common definitions and common policies in place for taxation. Kemnitz says it should help those who sell the candy, gum and water. He says it should make it easier for people collecting taxes from different states. Vegetable seeds, plants and fruit trees will also be taxable — unless the produce is for resale.July first brings a list of other changes in Iowa laws, affecting everything from privacy to over-the-counter medications. One law bans selling copies of designer-name goods like clothing and accessories, and county fairs will be banned from the old practice of giving live animals — mice, fish or chicks, as prizes for games. A loophole will be closed with a law making it illegal to photograph or tape people who are undressing in locker rooms, or store dressing rooms. You can’t stock up on pills for the sniffles, with a new limit of two packages of cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine — the ingredient drug-makers use to cook up illegal methamphetamine. Judges will be ordered to consider giving joint physical custody of the kids to divorcing parents, though they it’s not likely to change many cases since they say most couples have agreed on the arrangement that’s best for them before they arrive in divorce court.