By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D., Idaho Freedom Foundation
January 3, 2025
One of the weakest arguments against repealing the grocery tax is that because there is a “food tax credit” on your income taxes, it would be redistribution to leave the credit alone while removing the sales tax on groceries. A few squishy legislators insist on removing both the tax and the credit at the same time.
How bizarre it is to see some purported “conservatives” argue that to repeal a sales tax, you must also raise income taxes by removing a tax credit. What, exactly, is conservative about supporting a tax cut while also requiring a tax increase?
Let’s keep it simple. Taxing groceries is regressive and unseemly for a supposedly conservative state. And separately, income tax credits, by any name, are better left in place than forcing Idahoans to pay higher taxes.
