NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee shoppers could stop paying state sales tax on three kitchen staples under a bill House Speaker Cameron Sexton has filed for the coming legislative session.
House Bill 6 would carve milk, eggs and bread out of the tax that Tennessee charges on food. Everything else sold as food and food ingredients for people to eat would still be taxed at the current rate of 4%, according to the bill text.
The change would rewrite Section 67-6-228 of the Tennessee Code, the part of state law that sets the grocery rate. If it passes, the exemption would start on July 1, 2027.
Tennessee groceries cost more at the register than they do across the state line in Virginia, which charges a 1% grocery tax. Supporters pitch the bill as a way to ease food costs for families heading into the holiday season.
Northeast Tennessee lawmakers say affordability will be a major theme when the General Assembly returns. Rep. Tim Hicks, who represents the 6th House District, said legislators have heard from residents and plan to work hard this year to help them.
Budget writers will weigh the cost. Rep. David Hawk of the 5th District noted that more than half of the money the state collects comes from sales and consumption taxes, and he warned that cutting in one place can create pressure somewhere else in the budget.
Democrats are drafting a competing grocery tax cut that would shift the lost revenue onto corporations, though that version has not been filed yet. A similar Democratic plan failed last year when Republicans voted it down, and the two approaches set up a debate over who should pay for any break at the checkout line.
The General Assembly is expected to take up the measure in January.
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