House committee introduces bill to raise Idaho grocery tax credit to $155

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee introduced RS32033 on Jan. 27, a representative-sponsored proposal that would raise the state grocery tax credit from $120 to $155 and allow taxpayers to reclaim sales tax actually paid on groceries—up to a $250 annual cap.

The sponsor, Representative Jason Monks, introduced the draft statute and told the committee the increase is aimed at offsetting recent grocery-price inflation. “This particular legislation would increase that credit from $120 to $155,” Monks said, adding that the bill would “also make the credit uniform across the board” by eliminating the current differential for residents 65 and older. Monks described an alternate option in the bill that would let taxpayers submit receipts and be reimbursed for grocery sales tax they paid during the year, capped at $250.

Monks offered illustrative figures to show the effect: he said a family of four would receive $620 under the new credit levels and characterized the measure as a roughly $50 million tax cut to Idaho citizens. “I do know that this is a $50,000,000 tax break to the citizens of Idaho,” Monks said.

Representative Gannon asked whether older residents would see only a small increase under the change. “Seniors are only going to get $15 more on their grocery tax credit under this. Is that—am I doing that right?” Gannon asked. Monks responded that seniors would see the additional $15 and said the increase would still outpace cumulative inflation since the last raise.

Gannon also cited an estimate from the Legislative Services Office that Idaho collects about $200 million in sales tax on groceries and asked how the proposed change would affect that figure. Monks said the $200 million number is an estimate and explained limitations in how tax collections are attributed, noting that retail reports do not separate grocery sales from other merchandise in an obvious, auditable way. “We do not separate out taxes when we receive that from grocery stores,” Monks said.

Committee Chair (name not specified in transcript) called for a motion to introduce RS32033 for a full hearing. Representative Shepherd moved to introduce the measure; there was no recorded roll-call vote, and the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The chair said the RS will be assigned a bill number (House Bill 25) for the regular hearing process.

The committee did not take further action on the substance of the bill at the Jan. 27 meeting; the introduction sends RS32033 to a full hearing where the committee will accept additional testimony, including email testimony the chair described earlier in the session.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to introduce RS32033 (to be assigned House Bill 25): Moved by Representative Shepherd; outcome — motion carried by voice vote (no roll-call tally recorded in the transcript).

Provenance: The committee discussed RS32033 beginning when the chair announced the action item for RS32033 and Representative Monks spoke to the proposal; the motion to introduce and the chair’s statement that RS32033 “stands introduced” conclude the transcripted discussion of this item.