Take Out the Tax: Kansas plans on taking away food sales tax by 2025

The reduction of food sales tax HB-2106 bill will lower the food sales tax 2.5% on Jan. 1, 2023, according to the Kansas Legislature. 

The HB-2106 bill was introduced on Jan. 27, 2021 by the Committee on Taxation — a committee within the State Legislature focused on taxation rates and guidelines. They proposed the bill in hopes of swift financial relief amidst rapid inflation and increased living costs. 

The current food sales tax is 6.5% and it’s being reduced to 4.0%. The bill states the rate will be further reduced to 2.0% the following year, and removed completely by 2025. 

“Sales taxes on food are particularly regressive,” State Representative Rui Xu said. “It hurts low income families, much more than it hurts high income people. But regardless of who it benefits — it helps our constituents and it’s the right thing to do.”

The intention of this bill is to help the working class of Kansas, as it allows the families to have a lesser burden when it comes to buying food, according to Xu.

“If you’re making $500,000 a year, the state’s portion of the sales tax of 6.5% on groceries is not a big deal,” State Representative Jerry Stogsdill said, “But if you’re making $17,000 a year and you have two kids, it’s a huge deal.”

The causation and ability to pass this bill stems from the current surplus within the state. Kansas has the highest surplus the state has ever seen with a $2.7 billion dollar surplus for the 2022 fiscal year and an expected $3.1 billion surplus for the 2023 fiscal year, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. 

Despite the large surplus, the Republican representation opposed the new bill, as they were attempting to utilize the surplus in other ways. 

“You always have to hedge just a little bit on the conservative side because bad things can happen.” House Majority Leader and Wichita Republication Dan Hawkins said in an interview with KCUR., “We’ve had downturns in our economy before and we’ll have them again.”

As for the younger generation, they are in strong support of the bill, according to Prairie Village Teen Council Members Ainsley Pyle, and Ava Van Alstyne —  they agree that the bill is necessary, and it is a great use of the aforementioned surplus.

On the local level, the Prairie Village City Council is in support of the bill as it mentions reduction of sales tax in their formal 2023 legislative platform. 

“Food sales taxes are unnecessary… People need food.” City Council member Ian Graves said.  “When you’re lower on the socioeconomic ladder, you pay more out of your income for food, and those taxes hurt you more.”

Along with the City Council, members of the Prairie Village Teen Council support the bill. They believe that the sales tax is unnecessary given the current surplus within the state according to members Pyle and Van Alstyne.

“The food sales tax from the state has been done away with but they’re still local sales taxes. For example Prairie Village has 1%,” Graves said. “It was a good idea for the state to allow localities to continue to have food sales taxes, it would have just blown a hole on everybody’s budget, and nobody would know how to fill it.”

Whether the HB-2106 bill will remain in effect long enough to fully reduce the tax is still up for debate as it will be voted upon again in the upcoming state legislative session on Jan. 9, 2023, according to the Kansas State Legislature.

The Republican legislature has the possibility to overturn the HB-2106 in the upcoming Jan. 8 legislative sessions which would keep the tax at 4.0% and halt further plans — so there is no guarantee that the bill will stay in effect, according to Stogsdill.