Food, Food Ingredients & Prepared Food
During the period beginning at 12:01 am on Friday, July 30, 2021 and ending Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 11:59 pm, food, food ingredients, and prepared foods are exempt from sales tax. This includes qualified sales of prepared food by restaurants, food trucks, caterers, and grocery stores.
Sales of alcoholic beverages are not included in items exempt during this period.
Food and Food Ingredients
Food and food ingredients are defined as liquid, concentrated, solid, frozen, dried, or dehydrated substances that are sold to be ingested or chewed by humans and are consumed for their taste or nutritional value. Food and food ingredients do not include alcoholic beverages, tobacco, candy, dietary supplements, or prepared food.
Prepared Food
A food item qualifies as prepared food if it:
- Is sold in a heated state or heated by the seller,
- Contains two or more food ingredients mixed together by the seller for sale as a single item; or
- Is sold with eating utensils, such as plates, knives, forks, spoons, glasses, cups, napkins, or straws provided by the vendor.
Prepared food does not include food that is only cut, repackaged, or pasteurized by the seller, and eggs, fish, meat, poultry, and foods containing these raw animal foods requiring cooking by the consumer as recommended by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent food borne illnesses.
