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Monday Map: Sales Tax Exemptions for Groceries

By: Nick Kasprak

Today’s Monday Map shows how each state’s sales taxA sales tax is levied on retail sales of goods and services and, ideally, should apply to all final consumption with few exemptions. Many governments exempt goods like groceries; base broadening, such as including groceries, could keep rates lower. A sales tax should exempt business-to-business transactions which, when taxed, cause tax pyramiding. treats groceries. In many states, groceries are exempt, in others, they are taxed at a reduced rate, and a small number include them fully in the tax baseThe tax base is the total amount of income, property, assets, consumption, transactions, or other economic activity subject to taxation by a tax authority. A narrow tax base is non-neutral and inefficient. A broad tax base reduces tax administration costs and allows more revenue to be raised at lower rates. . (Five states, Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon, have no sales taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. .)

Grocery Exemptions

View previous Monday Maps here.

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