For years lawmakers in Kansas have been trying to change the way food is taxed. Will 2020 be the year they succeed?
House Bill 2616 seeks to lower the sales and use tax rate on food and food ingredients, at some point. The thing is, it wouldn’t be a rate change you can plan for in advance: A rate drop would occur only if compensating use tax revenue “exceeds the revenue of the base year amount plus 3% annually.”
The director of legislative research would certify the excess by September 1. The secretary of revenue would then use the certified amount (in dollars) to compute “a reduction rounded down to the nearest 0.1% in the sales and compensating use tax rates on food and food ingredients.”
If the rate needs to drop, the change would go into effect for the next calendar year. This process would be repeated “until the state rates for sales and compensating use taxes on food and food ingredients are reduced to 0%.” Currently, food and food ingredients are taxed at the general rate in Kansas, which ranges from 6.5% to 10.6%.
In addition to changing the rate, maybe, the measure seeks to remove “dietary supplements” from the definition of “food and food ingredients” (alcoholic beverages and tobacco are already excluded). It also states, “Food and food ingredients does include bottled water, candy, food sold through vending machines or soft drinks.”
