The number of states imposing sales taxes on groceries has shrunk over the years, and the number may decrease further in the coming months as lawmakers hear complaints about high prices for eggs and other household staples.
Democratic Party leaders in Alabama are among the political officials calling for grocery-tax reductions.
State lawmakers plan to introduce tax cut legislation that will include eliminating the state’s remaining grocery tax. The Alabama Legislature in 2023 passed a proposal to gradually drop it from 4% to 2%.
Under HB 479, the sales tax on groceries dropped one percent in September 2023 but was not reduced in September 2024. That's because there was not enough in the state’s education trust fund to offset the costs
Now, Democrats in the state legislature are reiterating that families need relief.
“If we’re serious about helping working people get ahead, the best and most impactful way to do that is to take less in taxes and give them some peace of mind when they pay the rent or go to the grocery store,” Democratic Rep. Adline Clarke said in a news release.
State leaders have for decades have discussed removing the tax, but the proposals never came to fruition because of the loss it would cause to education funding.
A tax cut package moving its way through the Mississippi legislature would cut that state's 7% sales tax on groceries.
In Tennessee, Republican legislative leaders have proposed abolishing the state’s 4% sales tax on groceries.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday unveiled the details of her proposal to eradicate the remaining 1/8th of a cent sales tax the state levies on groceries.
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