Tennessee lawmakers debate how or if to cut the grocery tax

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WDEF) – Will this be the year that Tennessee lawmakers finally eliminate the sales tax on groceries?

The idea has come up before, but never passed.

Governor Lee temporarily suspended the tax during the inflation boom, but that expired.

Tennessee has one of the highest taxes on groceries in the country (the state is one of the few that does not have an income tax).

They estimate that cutting it would turn a hundred dollar grocery bill into $96.

But that would leave an $800 million dollar hole in their budget.

So lawmakers are debating on whether or not to make that up, or just drop the whole idea.

There are competing Republican and Democratic bills before the legislature.

The Republican version does not make up the lost revenue, while the Democrats are proposing closing corporate tax loopholes.

If anything passes this year, it would take effect on July 1st.