|
Updated January 7, 2009
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repealed in GA, NC, and LA, local governments can still apply a small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.
|
Click to see the combined state and local food tax for all neighboring states.
End the tax on life!
|
