Protein Bars and Sales Tax (US)

Setting aside county and city taxes, which make it more confusing, food here gets a much lower 1% sales tax unless it's for immediate consumption, candy, or soda, in which case it gets taxed at the non food rate.

Protein bars don't fit the definition of soda or for immediate consumption. Whether or not they meet the definition of candy depends on the ingredients (but often they do):

"Candy" means a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops, or pieces. "Candy" does not include any preparation that contains flour or requires refrigeration.... Products whose ingredient list contain the word "flour", regardless of the type of flour (e.g., wheat, rice) are not candy. A product does not contain flour unless the product label specifically lists flour as an ingredient. Ingredients such as soy or whey that may be used in place of, or as a substitute for, flour are not considered to be flour for purposes of determining if the item qualifies as candy unless they are specifically labeled as flour in the ingredient list.

Yes, this strikes me as ridiculous.

What state are you in that taxed the protein bar? I'm guessing one of two things are at play here:

1. The state's definition of snack foods subject to the sales tax is broad enough to cover protein bars, or
2. There's some ambiguity in the application of the law and whoever manages the store's POS system classified the protein bars as taxable to be on the safe side.

nickssweetheart wrote: »

I live in Kansas, and all food is taxed at regular sales tax rates which works out to around 9%. It's awful.

That was a big surprise to me when I moved there for a few years.

nickssweetheart wrote: »

I live in Kansas, and all food is taxed at regular sales tax rates which works out to around 9%. It's awful.

Same.

svel713 wrote: »

bpetrosky wrote: »

What state are you in that taxed the protein bar? I'm guessing one of two things are at play here:

1. The state's definition of snack foods subject to the sales tax is broad enough to cover protein bars, or
2. There's some ambiguity in the application of the law and whoever manages the store's POS system classified the protein bars as taxable to be on the safe side.

@bpetrosky
I am in Kentucky and got those Pure Protein bars at Walmart.

I went down the road just an hour ago and bought two protein bars at a Kroger. Neither were taxed.

I couldn't find the Kentucky laws on taxable foods so I have no information to check which store is "right."

So I found this about Kentucky's sales tax on food. It looks like an interpretation difference between the two stores. If it's considered a "candy" or "dietary supplement" it would be taxable. Kroger is probably taking the stance that it's exempt with the majority of their sales in food, and the drug store categorized it as either a candy or a supplement and therefore non-exempt.

If the two stores are in different jurisdictions it could also be a factor.

In the state of Kentucky, the food exemption is applicable specifically to both food and food ingredients"""" which was intended for human consumption. However, this does not include candy, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, dietary supplements, pre-prepared food, or food which was sold through the use of vending machines.

https://www.salestaxhandbook.com/kentucky/sales-tax-taxability/food-and-meals

nickssweetheart wrote: »

cmtigger wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

nickssweetheart wrote: »

I live in Kansas, and all food is taxed at regular sales tax rates which works out to around 9%. It's awful.

Same.

This just showed up in my Facebook feed. Some legislators are trying to change it. http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180507/capitol-insider-podcast-efforts-to-lower-kansas-sales-tax-on-food-fails-for-lack-of-guts

Interesting. Guess it's time to write my congressman. I was also somewhat stunned to read that the state portion of the tax is 6.5% which means our local government is keeping around 2.5%. Yikes.

Your congressman has nothing to do with state and local sales taxes, other than potentially voting on whether states should be allowed to require remote sellers (like Amazon, eBay, etc.) to collect sales taxes for them.

Why yikes? Do you think the local government is getting too much or too little? In most states, localities are responsible for school systems, libraries, local policing, local court system, maintaining all non-state and non-federal roads, local public health programs, possibly a bus or transit system, perhaps some programs for assisting low-income, disabled, and elderly residents, possibly some economic development programs...

Wikipedia says:
In Texas, food products are exempt from sales tax. Only fast food is taxed. The basic rate in Texas is 6.25%.

Jerome Says: Cities and counties all over add 1% each so that everybody everywhere, except Round Rock, pays 8.25% sales tax. Round Rock is 1% less than Austin, and that's why all the big retail shops for Austin are in Round Rock.


Legal Beagle says:
Exempt Products
The Texas Tax Code generally states that “food products for human consumption” are exempt from the state’s sales tax. The Texas Tax Code specifically designates cereals, poultry, milk, fish, vegetables, spices, condiments, fruits, sugars, salts, coffees and teas as exempt food. In addition to those foods, it exempts products derived from those items listed. For example, tomato sauce is exempt as a vegetable product. Any combination of the specifically mentioned foods is exempt from the state’s sales tax. Baked goods like pastries and donuts are exempt. In addition, meals prepared for school lunches, churches, hospitals and retirement homes are exempt.
Non-Exempt Products
The Texas Tax Code specifically places certain items outside of the exemption. These products include drugs, vitamins, medicines, soft drinks, candy, ice and artificial sweeteners. In addition, the sale of all food products prepared at restaurants, vending machines, cafeterias or other similar businesses does not enjoy the sales tax exemption. The exemption does not apply to food sales in prisons operated by or under contract with the state.

cdudley628 wrote: »

The only food taxed in my state is prepared food, typically at restaurants. I honestly don't look very often. I think rotisserie chickens from grocery stores get meal tax and I was surprised about that, but I rarely get taxed for food from a grocery store.

malibu927 wrote: »

That's how it is here (and a reason why rotisserie chicken cannot be purchased via SNAP...but I'm not going to start that argument). The only other exceptions are drinks that aren't milk, water, or 100% juice are also taxed. But say, if you go through the drive thru at McDonalds, you only pay tax on the soda as you aren't eating the food on the premises.

That one always kind of annoys me. (They are often sold cheaper than a raw chicken, whether as a loss leader item to attract shoppers or to recoup possible losses on aging raw chicken that might otherwise get discarded).

Distilled water apparently gets taxed in New York. I annoyingly had to do the math on the entire receipt to figure out whether the "B" coded items (presumably for "beverage") are taxed/taxed at the same rate. (I bought $10+ worth of jugs for a piece of lab equipment along with some non-work stuff, so I had to calculate it out for the reimburse).

from NY state taxation website if anyone is interested:

https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/food_sold_by_food_stores.htm
https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/listings_of_taxable_and_exempt_food.htm

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

nickssweetheart wrote: »

cmtigger wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

nickssweetheart wrote: »

I live in Kansas, and all food is taxed at regular sales tax rates which works out to around 9%. It's awful.

Same.

This just showed up in my Facebook feed. Some legislators are trying to change it. http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180507/capitol-insider-podcast-efforts-to-lower-kansas-sales-tax-on-food-fails-for-lack-of-guts

Interesting. Guess it's time to write my congressman. I was also somewhat stunned to read that the state portion of the tax is 6.5% which means our local government is keeping around 2.5%. Yikes.

Your congressman has nothing to do with state and local sales taxes, other than potentially voting on whether states should be allowed to require remote sellers (like Amazon, eBay, etc.) to collect sales taxes for them.

Why yikes? Do you think the local government is getting too much or too little? In most states, localities are responsible for school systems, libraries, local policing, local court system, maintaining all non-state and non-federal roads, local public health programs, possibly a bus or transit system, perhaps some programs for assisting low-income, disabled, and elderly residents, possibly some economic development programs...

I was thinking of my state representative, my mistake.

Our local government has amazing programs and amazing schools, but my impression was they were primarily funded via property taxes. It's worth some research regardless.

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure all food in my state is taxed at the same 9.5% rate as everything else....be it a protein bar a gallon of milk or some gummy worms.

Are you in WA? If so, it appears that food is exempt. http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=82.08.0293

(My father lives in WA.)

We have a flat rate sales tax that includes all groceries at 10%.