Oklahoma officially said goodbye to its so-called grocery tax on Aug. 29.
However, the state only eliminated the 4.5 percent sales tax for certain types of grocery items.
Nonetheless, shoppers told 2 News that this change is a huge relief for them and their families and that a heavy financial burden is now lifted off their shoulders.
Shoppers’ struggles
The U.S. Census Bureau reported in October 2023 that Oklahomans spend a weekly average of $279.16 on groceries—not far off from what the average U.S. household spends , which is about $270.
2 News caught up with Patricia, a shopper at Oasis Fresh Market who spends about $350 each grocery trip.
She’s had to spend more on food as her child has gotten older, telling us that her average receipt was $175 two or three years ago.
Patricia felt that eliminating this grocery tax would save her a lot of money each week.
“It makes me feel good because … you could save, you know, especially when you have family at home and everything, and things are so high,” she said. “And coming up from a family that we save and we bargain, so I would like to do that. They don’t even do the coupon basically anymore. But it’s just a good thing to where we can save money.”
2 News also ran into an Oasis customer named Mylikia, who has a “big household right now, like 5 to 6 people.”
She said grocery prices have “skyrocketed” because of COVID-19. “Not even groceries,” she added, “like tissues, household items as well.”
As for how much she tends to spend: “I say if you was like to go to the grocery store like once a month, that’ll be like $400-and-something, maybe $500, so it is kind of pricey when we going to the grocery store every month or just every day.”
As a single mother with four kids, not having to pay 4.5 percent more on certain groceries is a godsend.
“I feel like that’s gonna impact us in a very positive way because right now everything is high, inflation, groceries, you know, the taxes are high,” said Mylikia. “So, with them going away, I feel like that will help every family, community, and, you know, every race.”
Which items have no sales tax now?
That state sales tax is only eliminated for what Oklahoma says are “food and food ingredients.”
The new tax guidelines classify those as “substances in a (liquid, concentrated, solid, frozen, dried or dehydrated form) that are sold for ingestion or chewing by humans” and “consumed for their taste or nutritional value.”
That’s some pretty bureaucratic language, so it might be easier to understand it instead by what’s not considered food or food ingredients:
- Alcoholic beverages
- Tobacco products
- Dietary supplements
- Marijuana, usable marijuana or marijuana-infused products
- Over-the-counter medications with a drug facts or active ingredients label
- Prepared food
“Prepared food” is meant to be consumed immediately on or off the seller’s property. It means a few other things:
- Food that is sold in a heated state or that is heated by the seller; or
- Food in which two or more ingredients are mixed or combined by the seller and sold as a single item; or
- Food sold with eating utensils, plates, bowls, cups, glasses, napkins or straws provided by the seller.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission has an in-depth list detailing which kinds of items shoppers still have to pay state sales tax on.
While Oklahomans no longer have to pay state sales tax on food and food ingredients, they still have to pay local sales taxes and excise taxes on those items.
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