Rep. Kennedy: Grocery Tax is Back; Hurting CT Families

HARTFORD – State Rep. Kathy Kennedy (R-119) along with Senate and House Republican colleagues announced newly released details on a grocery store tax included in the Democrat state budget set to go into effect October 1, 2019 which could potentially encompass all cooked food from a rotisserie chicken to eight ounces of soup.

The Democrat-approved 7.35% tax will be applied to a long list of food items that have never been taxed when sold in grocery stores before, according to the state Department of Revenue Services policy statement issued this week.

The tax will apply to not only prepared meals such as sandwiches, deli salads, pizza and hot buffet items, but also small packages of snacks, loose baked goods, wrapped salads, small servings of ice cream, and meal replacement bars. It also applies to fountain drinks including coffee and any beverage sold with a taxable “meal.”

“The revealing details of this new tax hike are truly frightening and will hurt the working and middle class families of Milford and Orange, taking more and more out of people’s wallets every day,” said Rep. Kennedy. “The grocery tax will punish the very people who can afford it the least.”

“This is deeply concerning that this news comes out after we debated the state budget during the session,” said Rep. Ferraro. “The majority party crafted this state budget and included this language that will hurt all Connecticut families. Will they fix it or continue to pass tax increases that punish working families?”

Kennedy mentioned how Gov. Lamont assured Connecticut residents in February that grocery tax proposal was dead. In fact, Gov. Lamont says it was ‘never alive.’

Earlier this year, Democrat lawmakers labeled the new tax as only a 1% tax increase on items already taxed at 6.35%, but the DRS statement clarifies that the new 7.35% tax will also apply to many food items that have never been taxed at all before when sold in grocery stores.

The DRS document explains that items sold at restaurants and eateries currently taxed at 6.35% will see a 1% tax increase. It also clarifies that the total 7.35% tax rate will also be effective in grocery stores, “which previously taxed meals in a different manner than other eating establishments.”

Read the Department of Revenue Services memo here: https://cdn.cthousegop.com/2019/09/Meal.Tax_.DRS_.Memo_.pdf