With the food sales tax dropping from 4 percent to 2 percent Monday, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says that step alone will save grocery shoppers $150 million in tax relief next year.
Using projections from the Kansas Department of Revenue, the governor says this tax reduction will save shoppers $12.5 million per month.
When lawmakers decided in 2022 to gradually eliminate the food sales tax instead of ending it all at once, the tax was at 6.5 percent — among the highest in the nation at that time. The tax was trimmed to 4 percent at the start of this year, saving shoppers over $187 million in tax revenue, and will go to zero by January 2025.
The new rate does not apply to everything food-related. It actually applies to food, food ingredients and certain prepared foods. Come January, shoppers will see two tax rates on their receipts — one for qualifying products and one for other items.
