November 30, 2025
Grocery Tax Repeal
By: Bannock County GOP Chair Craig Yadon
Bannock County Republicans are working to repeal the Idaho Grocery Tax. Idaho is one of just a few states who fully tax the food its citizens need to survive. The grocery tax is an immoral tax and it needs to be repealed.
We’ve seen what happens when the government tries to interpret morality. In California the government has put a dollar amount on theft. If you stole less than $950 from a store it somehow wasn’t a crime law enforcement had time to enforce. The Idaho Legislature has tried to tweak the grocery tax by offering tax credits, while others have tried to explain it away saying it only affects tourists. In both cases they have failed to rectify this immoral tax on the very food we eat.
Idaho’s tax on groceries is immoral for a few other reasons. Our lower income people pay a larger proportion of their income while other people actually get more tax credit than they pay in. We’ve heard a lot about SNAP benefits as of late. The government in its wisdom has exempted those using SNAP benefits from paying sales tax at the grocery store yet they still get the automatic tax credit at the end of the year.
While the numbers vary depending on who you talk to, in general terms the state collects approximately 375 million dollars in grocery sales tax each year. Through the tax credit program about 200 million is refunded. This leaves 175 million dollars being charged on grocery sales. Some say these taxes are paid by tourists but when we look at how they come up with the number of tourists, it’s based on the number of motel rooms and Airbnb reservations reported. This is a faulty number for a few reasons, the main one being that in-state travel by Idaho citizens is quite prevalent. We travel around the state for business, concerts, kids’ sports, and vacations, to name a few. Idaho is a large state with great places for its citizens to explore and conduct business in. Now think about when you travel for business or even for a family vacation, are you really going to the grocery store so you can prepare your own food? Of course not, these are the times when we splurge on restaurants. It’s the same with out of state tourists who supposedly pay the remaining 175 million dollars in grocery tax the state collects. Tourists don’t come to Idaho so they can shop in our grocery stores. They go to our local restaurants and enjoy the services they have to offer.
So, while our state legislature and former governor failed to get rid of this immoral, repressive tax, we the people have the option to repeal it by using the ballot initiative process. Republicans across the state are out working to collect the necessary signatures to place it on November 2026 ballot. Be on the lookout for your local Bannock County Republican Party representative. We look forward to connecting with you soon as we are out gathering signatures for this important ballot initiative.
Craig Yadon
Chairman
Bannock County GOP
