Whether states tax groceries depends on where you shop: most states exempt basic groceries from sales tax, five states have no general sales tax at all, and roughly eight states still tax food purchased for home consumption at the state level as of 2026. Even in exempt states, some categories that look like groceries, including candy, soft drinks, dietary supplements, and anything the store prepared for you, are usually taxed anyway.
Which States Still Tax Groceries in 2026
The list has been shrinking. Kansas eliminated its grocery tax in January 2025. Arkansas and Illinois both dropped theirs on January 1, 2026. What remains as of early 2026:
- Idaho taxes groceries at its full 6% state rate.
- Mississippi charges 5%, reduced from 7% in mid-2025.
- Alabama charges 2%.
- Tennessee charges 4%.
- South Dakota charges 4.2%.
- Missouri charges 1.225%, set to continue at least through December 2026.
- Utah’s combined state and mandatory local portions come to about 3%.
- Hawaii taxes groceries at roughly 4% but, like Idaho, offers targeted credits for lower-income residents.
These rates move more often than most people expect. If you live in one of these states, check your state revenue department’s website before assuming the number is the same as last year.
The five states with no general sales tax carry no state-level tax on food by default. Everywhere else, groceries are exempt from the state sales tax, though local taxes can still apply.
What Counts as an Exempt Grocery
In states that exempt groceries, the exemption generally covers food you take home and prepare yourself. A useful visual test: anything with a “Nutrition Facts” label on the packaging usually qualifies. That covers flour, sugar, rice, cooking oil, frozen vegetables, cereal, canned soup, and similar staples. Fresh produce, uncooked meat, dairy, bread, and eggs also qualify.
The exemption does not automatically cover everything sold at a grocery store. Paper towels, pet food, cleaning supplies, and personal care products are taxable almost everywhere. What catches shoppers off guard are the food-adjacent items that get taxed differently from the rest of the cart.
Candy, Soft Drinks, and Supplements
More than 20 states treat at least one of these categories differently from regular food, taxing them even when everyday groceries are exempt.
The candy rule sounds arbitrary but is fairly consistent: candy is a product in bar, drop, or piece form that does not contain flour. A chocolate bar is candy and taxable. A chocolate chip cookie is a baked good and exempt, because it contains flour.
Soft drinks generally mean any non-alcoholic beverage with natural or artificial sweeteners. Plain water, milk, and 100% fruit juice are typically exempt. A bottle of sweetened iced tea sitting on the shelf next to the unsweetened version may be taxable when the other isn’t.
Dietary supplements are the third common exception. Products labeled with a “Supplement Facts” panel rather than a “Nutrition Facts” panel are taxable in many states. Protein powders, vitamin capsules, and herbal extracts fall in this bucket. Meal replacement drinks like Ensure or Boost carry a Nutrition Facts label and are often treated as food.
When Food Becomes “Prepared” and Taxable
The biggest dividing line in food taxation is whether the food counts as prepared. Roughly two dozen states follow the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement’s three-part test, and food is taxable prepared food if any one of these is true:
- It’s sold heated. A rotisserie chicken, a hot slice of pizza, or soup from a heated container all qualify. The same rotisserie chicken sold cold from the refrigerator case may be exempt.
- The seller mixed two or more ingredients. A deli worker building a sandwich or tossing a salad to order triggers this. Simply cutting, repackaging, or pasteurizing food does not, and raw meat in a butcher’s tray that still needs cooking at home is also excluded.
- The seller provides eating utensils. A fork, plate, straw, or napkin handed over with the food can push it into the taxable category. At stores where more than 75% of food sales are already prepared food, just making utensils available at a counter is enough.1Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. Prepared Food Definition Appendix C
The utensil rule is where grocery and convenience stores hit the most complexity. A store with a hot dog roller and a napkin dispenser nearby may inadvertently change the tax status of items that would otherwise be exempt.
Restaurant Meals, Delivery, and Meals Taxes
Restaurant meals are taxable in virtually every state that has a sales tax. This applies whether you’re at a sit-down restaurant, a fast-food drive-through, or a food truck.
Restaurant food may also be taxed at a higher rate than other purchases. A number of states authorize cities and counties to impose a separate meals tax on top of the standard sales tax, adding anywhere from 0.5% to over 5% to your bill depending on the city. Tourist destinations and larger metro areas are where these show up most often, and some jurisdictions earmark the revenue for tourism infrastructure, convention centers, or transit.
Ordering through a delivery app doesn’t change the tax treatment of the food. If a restaurant meal would be taxable on-site, it’s taxable at your door too. The delivery fee itself is treated differently across states: in many places, delivery charges on taxable items are also taxed, while some states treat delivery as a separate non-taxable service. Expect tax on the full checkout amount in most places. Takeout and drive-through orders follow the same rule as dine-in, because the food was still prepared by the seller.
SNAP Purchases Are Always Tax-Free
If you pay with SNAP benefits, no state or local sales tax applies to eligible food items, in every state. Federal law prohibits it: a state cannot participate in SNAP if it collects sales tax on purchases made with SNAP benefits.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 2013 – Authorization for Issuance of Program Benefits This holds even in the states that tax groceries at the full rate.
The protection covers the eligible food, not everything in your cart. Non-food items like cleaning supplies or paper products are still taxed at your local rate. If you split the tab between SNAP and cash or debit, only the SNAP-funded portion is shielded from tax, and retailers separate these on the receipt.
Local Taxes That Can Surprise You
Even in states that exempt groceries from state sales tax, local jurisdictions sometimes impose their own tax on food. A state can announce that groceries are tax-free while cities and counties within it continue charging a local sales tax that covers food. Illinois, which just eliminated its 1% state grocery tax in 2026, explicitly gave local governments the option to keep imposing their own 1% levy by local ordinance.
A handful of cities also impose special excise taxes on sugary beverages. These aren’t traditional sales taxes but per-ounce levies charged to distributors, and the cost is passed on to shoppers. Rates run from about one cent per ounce in several California cities to two cents per ounce in Boulder, Colorado, which adds roughly $0.67 to $1.30 to a two-liter bottle. Several states have passed laws prohibiting their cities from enacting new soda taxes, so these levies exist only in a few places.
How to Check the Rate Where You Live
The fastest way to find your actual food tax is to search your state’s department of revenue website for “food” or “grocery” along with “sales tax.” Most states publish a plain-language guide showing which food categories are exempt, reduced-rate, or fully taxable. If your state exempts groceries, look separately for your city and county rates, because local taxes run on their own tracks and can add tax to items your state has already exempted.