Mainers should buy beef jerky, gummy bears and marshmallows before Friday
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Sales-tax exemptions on hundreds of food and beverage products will be eliminated Jan. 1, as part of a two-year state budget that reduces Maine’s income and estate taxes.
At the start of the New Year, Mainers will pay sales tax on fruit gummies, marshmallows, potato chips, beef jerky, sports drinks, granola bars, trail mix, cookies, pastries, ice cream, precooked frozen cakes, pies and sandwiches and more, the Portland Press Herald reported.
To help pay for tax cuts including lowering the rate of Maine’s top income bracket, lawmakers made more grocery products subject to the sales tax and kept the sales tax at 5.5%, as it’s been since October 2013, instead of allowing it to fall back to 5% as originally planned.
The changes in sales tax will generate an additional $97 million in revenue in fiscal year 2017, the Press Herald reported.
Major retailers, including Hannaford, told the paper they’re ready to implement the new taxes Friday.
Most grocery staples, such as fruits, vegetables, eggs, bread, milk and peanut butter, will still be exempt from sales tax. But as the Press Herald points out, not all the exemption changes seem logical. For instance, cheese dips will now be taxed, but cheese spreads will not.
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