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Groceries in the U.S. remain expensive; more states want to stop taxing them

21 points by petethomas 2y ago

jmclnx 2y ago
I guess these states think they can pull money from the sky ? Revenue needs to come from somewhere. Plus with the new tariffs, I doubt removing taxes will help much. But were I am, groceries are considered a basic need, so the states in my area do not tax them. I did not even realize some places taxed food at grocery stores.
- LarsAlereon 2y ago
  In general sales tax isn't a significant source of revenue for states, to the point where some states don't tax retail sales at all.
  - jfengel 2y ago
    I just had a quick look at my state. Sales tax makes up 10.5% of our revenue. If you exclude things like money coming from the federal government, it's about twice that. That's just a single data point; I was just curious. We already don't tax most groceries, so that's not a tactic we could apply. I assumed that most states with sales taxes exclude groceries.
- LightHugger 2y ago
  Well, everyone needs food, but not everyone needs luxury items. Lowering taxes on basics like groceries and raising them on luxury items or even better, raising income tax for the rich, would be way better.
- 34679 2y ago
  They'll still tax the income used to buy the groceries, the profits made from selling them, the properties used to store and prepare them, the automobiles and fuel used to transport them, and the payroll of the companies selling them.
Freedom2 2y ago
I was under the impression that voters decided on Trump because he would bring grocery prices down on "day one" [1]. I don't understand how grocery prices are still expensive in the US now. [1]: https://nypost.com/2024/08/15/us-news/trump-blasts-kamala-harris-high-grocery-prices-and-maduro-plan-while-standing-in-front-of-cheerios-meat/ https://nypost.com/2024/08/15/us-news/trump-blasts-kamala-ha...
- nathanaldensr 2y ago
  It's not up to the President to do everything that needs doing. Presidents make stupid promises they can never fulfill all the time; this has been the case going back decades at a minimum, and probably further than that. It's really annoying how people have this delusion about just how much power Presidents have.

21 points by petethomas 2y ago

I guess these states think they can pull money from the sky ? Revenue needs to come from somewhere. Plus with the new tariffs, I doubt removing taxes will help much. But were I am, groceries are considered a basic need, so the states in my area do not tax them. I did not even realize some places taxed food at grocery stores.

LarsAlereon 2y ago
In general sales tax isn't a significant source of revenue for states, to the point where some states don't tax retail sales at all.
- jfengel 2y ago
  I just had a quick look at my state. Sales tax makes up 10.5% of our revenue. If you exclude things like money coming from the federal government, it's about twice that. That's just a single data point; I was just curious. We already don't tax most groceries, so that's not a tactic we could apply. I assumed that most states with sales taxes exclude groceries.
LightHugger 2y ago
Well, everyone needs food, but not everyone needs luxury items. Lowering taxes on basics like groceries and raising them on luxury items or even better, raising income tax for the rich, would be way better.
34679 2y ago
They'll still tax the income used to buy the groceries, the profits made from selling them, the properties used to store and prepare them, the automobiles and fuel used to transport them, and the payroll of the companies selling them.

Freedom2 2y ago

I was under the impression that voters decided on Trump because he would bring grocery prices down on "day one" [1]. I don't understand how grocery prices are still expensive in the US now. [1]: https://nypost.com/2024/08/15/us-news/trump-blasts-kamala-harris-high-grocery-prices-and-maduro-plan-while-standing-in-front-of-cheerios-meat/ https://nypost.com/2024/08/15/us-news/trump-blasts-kamala-ha...

nathanaldensr 2y ago
It's not up to the President to do everything that needs doing. Presidents make stupid promises they can never fulfill all the time; this has been the case going back decades at a minimum, and probably further than that. It's really annoying how people have this delusion about just how much power Presidents have.