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ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT

Utah lawmakers will again consider dropping the state portion of food tax

Jan 21, 2025, 3:22 PM | Updated: 4:32 pm

Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, talks to members of the media during the first day of the 2025 ...

Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, talks to members of the media during the first day of the 2025 legislative session in the Senate Minority Caucus room at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers will try again in 2025 to eliminate the state’s portion of the food tax. If the plan went forward as written today, Utah’s combined tax bill on food would drop from 3% to 1.25%. That’s according to research from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

According to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake, unlike previous attempts to repeal the food tax, SB122 isn’t conditional on anything else happening.

“This is just a straightforward effort to get rid of that portion,” Blouin said. “I think it actually falls pretty closely in line with the budget that Republicans have set aside for tax cuts this year.”

Trying to eliminate Utah food tax isn’t new

The most recent attempt to eliminate a portion of the sales tax on food in Utah was in 2024. Lawmakers combined it with Amendment D, a proposal to amend the Utah Constitution. Amendment D would have allowed income tax to be used for items other than education.

The Utah Supreme Court voided that amendment from the November ballot.

Despite the 2024 effort, Blouin said he’s confident that most Utahns agree with eliminating some of their taxes.

“I think this is really something that hits home for a wider swath of the population, from Utahns just struggling to make a living and all the way up.”

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute said that repealing the state’s portion of the food tax could save Utah families an average of $100 a year.

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Utah lawmakers will again consider dropping the state portion of food tax