Idaho Senate approves $35 increase for Idaho grocery tax credit

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho Senate has approved a 35-dollar increase to the grocery sales tax credit for 2026. 

House Bill 231 increases the grocery tax credit from $120 to $155 per person. The bill also removes the increased rate for seniors. 

Before the bill was passed Wednesday, the Senate debated to send the bill to an amending order so that they could fully repeal the sales tax on food.  

Senator Christy Zito, R - Hammett, told legislators Idaho is only 1 of 4 states to have a sales tax on groceries. She believes it needs to change. 

"This is just not a good idea. This means that Idaho businesses are losing customers to other states," argued Sen. Zito. "They claim that grocery stores will raise their prices by 6% if we repeal. The grocery tax has been proven to be simply not true. Other states have not raised their grocery prices. It's time for Idaho to catch up."

Bill sponsor, Senator Doug Ricks (R) of Rexburg, says removing the sales tax on groceries would just cause more headaches. 

"Utah has removed a portion of sales tax, most of it on their, food.  But they have a 28-page manual that determines what items or food items, what is and what's not," said Sen. Ricks. "And so it's created a whole nother little bureaucracy and competition in the the food stores of the suppliers of what items qualify for food that's tax exempt versus what items or not."

The amending order failed. Senators passed the bill 30 to 3 after nearly an hour of debate.

The bill is now with the governor's office.