NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee lawmakers want to shrink families' grocery bills this legislative session. To do that, they introduced a new bill that would exempt food from state sales tax.
The bill, H.B. 1071, was introduced by Representative Vincent Dixie (D - District 54). If passed, a sales tax would not be applied to groceries between May 1 and October 31. Families would be able to leave grocery stores spending a little less on basic items.
Stores would need to report the amount of money from tax-exempt sales to the state, the bill says. Then, the Commissioner of Revenue would reimburse the counties and municipalities for revenue that may have been lost during the six-month period.
Dixie said that the bill would save a family of four around $100 per month, and would cost the state between $20 million and $24 million. However, he said that the state's "rainy day" fund could cover it since he said it totals around $1.5 billion.
A Senate subcommittee will take the bill up next week, on March 23.