Petitions In For Food Tax Repeal Vote

(Pierre, SD) — Petitions are being turned in for a food tax repeal to go on this year’s ballot. Right now, South Dakota has a four-point-two percent tax that applies to any items purchased for human consumption. Democrat Rick Weiland and his group Dakotans For Help have been leading the push for the repeal, reporting the campaign collected over 25-thousand signatures. That surpassed the number needed for the November general election ballot by more than seven thousand. However, there are issues that arise from the measure like the effect on tobacco products — a major stream of revenue for the state government. Governor Kristi Noem called for elimination of the tax on groceries during her 2022 re-election campaign, but the Republican-controlled Legislature chose instead to reduce the state sales and use tax rate overall to the current four-point two percent through the end of June in 2027.