NASHVILLE — Freshman state Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, and Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, said they are introducing legislation in the Tennessee General Assembly’s 2024 session to eliminate the state’s 4% sales tax on food purchased in grocery stores.
“Whether you’re a teacher, a truck driver or a small business owner — we all have to pay our taxes,” Behn said in a statement. “There are no loopholes for parents buying back-to-school clothes; there are no loopholes for families buying Thanksgiving turkeys. Small businesses don’t have high-paid lobbyists to get them huge tax breaks.”
Behn noted a recent progressive Economic Policy Institute report showed more than 60% of corporations filing in Tennessee pay “zero in state corporate income tax,” a figure she said includes “27% of all billion-dollar corporations.”
Costs for eliminating the sales tax on food have been estimated at about $288 million annually. Behn said that can be covered by requiring “mega corporations pay what they owe.”
She said in a subsequent news conference her office has received hundreds of calls and emails in support of eliminating the tax.