Take the tax off food! End the tax on life!
36 states do not tax food at the state level (31 states fully exempt food, 5 states apply only local taxes. Nearly all of the others tax food at a reduced rate or offer credits to help offset the food tax for certain taxpayers.
At an average state and local rate of 7.9%, Tennessee has the third highest average food tax in the nation, which puts and unfair burden on low- and middle-income families.
Groceries represent a much bigger portion of low-income families’ budgets while it only represents a small fraction of most high-income families’ budgets.
By eliminating the tax on food, the average family would save enough annually to buy a whole month’s worth of groceries. That’s like free food from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
So what are other states doing?
Kentucky eliminated its food tax decades ago.
Oct. ’97 – Missouri reduced its food tax by 3%.
Oct. ’98 – Georgia eliminated its state tax on food.
May ’99 – N. Carolina eliminated its state food tax.
Jan. ’00 – Virginia reduced its food tax to 4%.
Jan. ’03 – Louisiana eliminated its state food tax.
July ’05 – Virginia reduced its food tax to 2.5%.
Oct. ’06 – South Carolina cut its food tax by 2%.
July ’07 – Arkansas cut its state food tax cut in half.
Nov. ’07 – South Carolina eliminated its state food tax.
Jan. ’08 – Tennessee cut its food tax by a half percent.
Note: Though the state portion is completely repealed in GA, NC, and LA, local governments can still apply a small local tax.