Idaho Governor Butch Otter remains firmly opposed to removing the state’s 6 percent sales tax from groceries.
Last year, lawmakers passed legislation to do just that – by a two-thirds margin – and Otter vetoed it. Lawmakers sued, ending up before the Idaho Supreme Court, but failed to get the veto overturned.
Otter on Wednesday told the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho annual conference that he feels the grocery tax is the most stable and predictable state revenue source that Idaho has. Idaho is one of just seven states that fully applies its sales tax to groceries. Most of its neighboring states, including Washington, don’t tax groceries at all, while Utah taxes them at a reduced rate.
Idahoans get a roughly $100 per-person tax credit on their state income tax returns each year to offset part of the cost. Eliminating both the sales tax on groceries and the credit would reduce Idaho’s state tax revenues by a net figure of about $79 million a year.
Last year’s veto came too late for a legislative override, which both houses can pass by a two-thirds vote. But lawmakers passed the bill so late in the 2017 session that they had adjourned for the year before the measure hit the governor’s desk. (Spokesman-Review)
