Kansas residents buy groceries out of state due to food tax [View all]

WICHITA — Kansas' high sales taxes on groceries have people crossing state lines to shop, particularly residents living in border counties, and the trend is hurting not only low-income families, but also rural grocery stores and local governments, according to a new study.

Kansas lost $345.6 million in food sales in 2013 — costing the state $21.2 million in lost sales tax revenue, according to a recent report by Wichita State University's Kansas Public Finance Center. The center analyzed the latest available food sales data, which does not include last year's food tax hike to 6.5 percent, among the highest in the nation even before local sales taxes are added in. Kansas is one of only 14 states that tax food.

In northwest Kansas, 73-year-old Larry Adams and his wife struggle to make ends meet on the $800 monthly Social Security check he receives. The Logan couple has been doing most of their grocery shopping and non-food item shopping in neighboring Nebraska for about 10 years when they cross the border for doctor's appointments.

Nebraska doesn't have a grocery tax, he said. "It doesn't cost us anything extra to go out of state," Adams said of driving the 80 to 100 miles.


more
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2016/jan/18/report-kansas-residents-buy-groceries-out-state-du/