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

HARTFORD – State Rep. Lezlye Zupkus (R-89) 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.”

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

“I am appalled that the majority party with the governor revived a grocery tax that state residents were told was not ever going to happen. This tax will have a real negative economic impact on Connecticut customers and their families,” said Rep. Zupkus. “To many people these are everyday groceries that will now face an additional tax.”

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