OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — On Thursday, a price break at the grocery store goes into effect as Oklahoma is dropping the state grocery tax. It's important to know that municipal grocery taxes remain and many items in your grocery store are not included in the new tax break.
"Since 2019, I've been talking about eliminating this grocery tax to bring people back back home," said Governor Kevin Stitt in a February press conference.
Lawmakers voted to eliminate Oklahoma's 4.5% state grocery sales tax earlier this year, but before you get to shopping, the Oklahoma Tax Commission separates items into seven different categories with the new tax break.
Bottled water, sodas, and non-alcoholic cocktail mixes are not taxed, but self-serve fountain drinks, a smoothie made by the store, and alcohol will still have a 4.5% state sales tax.
In other areas of the store, a few items are still taxed like dietary supplements, hard boiled eggs, and store-made caramel apples.
Cereal, baby food (cereal and formula), eggs/egg substitutes, milk/yogurt/cheese products, and pasta not made by the store are not taxed.
The deli is where it might get complicated.
Meats by weight, premade deli salads, sandwiches, and even party trays are not taxed.
On the other hand, some to-go foods ordered in the store are still taxed like hot chicken strips or a custom sandwich.
Most meats are tax free, except for sushi, rotisserie chicken and hot shrimp.
Fruits and vegetables are tax free, including containers of mixed fruit cut up by the store.
While you're getting a little break at the register on most food items, you'll still pay state sales tax on non-food items like toiletries, packaging (aluminum foil, sandwich bags, plastic wrap, etc.), and vitamins.
Local grocery stores said they've been preparing for the change and cash registers will be programmed with updated tax pricing making the transition seamless for customers.
Crest Foods sent a statement to News 4.
Crest IT and Accounting departments have been working hard the last few months to reclassify the tax on all the items that qualify for state tax credit in our register system.
Crest Foods
This process has been completed. Crest is ready to activate the items this Thursday.
Homeland Stores also sent a statement talking about how they're preparing.
At our stores, each of our item UPCs are linked to a tax flag that determines the corresponding tax rate. For the tax decrease tomorrow, we’ve actually updated over 20,000 UPCs with the new corresponding tax rates. After we close tonight, we will make the changes active for tomorrow.
Homeland Stores
“Reducing the state grocery tax by 4.5% is a significant win for our shoppers,” said HAC, Inc. Interim CEO and President, Tom Dahlen. “This reduction means more money stays in our customers' pockets, allowing them to enjoy even more savings on the fresh, high-quality products they love. We’re committed to providing the customer value every day with more ways to save, and now, with this tax change, grocery dollars will go even further."
The change goes into effect on Thursday.
For a full list of what's included in the break and what's not, click here.
Just a reminder, even though the 4.5% state sales tax is going away Thursday at grocery stores, local sales tax will still show up on your receipt.
