Kansas ends its state sales tax on food, cutting the rate from 2% to 0%

What changed in detail

From 1 January 2025, the Kansas state sales and use tax rate on food and food ingredients fell from 2.0% to 0%.

This was the final step of the phase-down enacted by 2022 House Bill 2106. New Section 1 of the bill became K.S.A. 79-3603d (L. 2022, ch. 89), and the Governor approved the bill on 11 May 2022. The statute set the state rate on food at 4.0% from 1 January 2023, 2.0% from 1 January 2024, and 0% from 1 January 2025 onward.

The Kansas Department of Revenue issued Notice 24-21 on 9 December 2024 as a reminder of the 2025 reduction. It told retailers to adjust their point-of-sale systems and software to the new state rate of 0.0%.

The notice also said that local sales tax rates on food and food ingredients were not affected. Food and food ingredients remain subject to the sales taxes imposed by cities and counties.

What it means

The 0% state rate is still in force. It replaced the 2.0% rate in force during 2024.

The common mistake is to treat Kansas groceries as untaxed. Only the state portion is zero. City and county rates still apply to food, so a seller has to apply the destination’s local rate to food lines. Systems that switch food to “exempt” under-collect.

For which items qualify, the notice points to KDOR Publication KS-1223, Kansas Food Sales Tax Rate Reduction.