Lesser Calls On DRS To Change New Food Sales Tax Interpretation

MIDDLETOWN, CT — State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, is calling on the Department of Revenue Services to revise their sales tax application to meals. Lesser said the interpretation is not reflective of the legislative intent of the budget.

The upcoming "prepared food" tax is going to be a bigger tax hit for consumers than initially anticipated. Some shoppers are in for sticker shock come Oct. 1 when a new tax goes into effect on restaurant and prepared foods sold at grocery stores. A new 1 percent tax is being added on top of the 6.35-percent sales tax for restaurant meals, but the bigger surprise is that items that haven't been taxed before at grocery stores will now be hit with a new 7.35-percent tax.

A new Department of Revenue Service document revealed the tax is broader in scope and applies to things like pre-cut fruit and vegetables, small packages of lettuce and meal replacement bars.

Below is Lesser’s full letter to Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Scott D. Jackson:

Dear Commissioner Jackson:

I am writing in reference to the recent Department of Revenue Services Policy Statement (PS 2019(5)) that was issued on September 6, 2019.

I appreciate the work of the Department of Revenue Services and believe the interpretation has gone beyond the scope intended by the legislature. This interpretation goes against the legislative intent of the new law and against the interpretation of the new law by all three of our nonpartisan offices.

As you may be aware, this language was incorporated in Raised Bill 7408 that was heard by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee on April 10, 2019 and again when it was included in the tax package that was voted out of the Finance Committee (SB 877).

It is important to ensure the department’s interpretation is reflective of the legislative intent to avoid a drastically different fiscal note from the Office of Fiscal Analysis and a significant change to our budget assumptions currently adopted.

I am joining my colleagues in the Senate Democratic Caucus in asking that DRS, in consultation with OPM, revise this Policy Statement to more accurately reflect the legislative intent that was clear to all parties during our budget negotiations.

Matt Lesser