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SB 1656 - Current law taxes retail sales of food, as defined in current law, at a rate of one percent. This act provides that retail sales of food shall be exempt from state sales taxes.
This act is identical to SB 688 (2025), SB 734 (2025), and SCS/SB 161 (2023), and to a provision in SB 57 (2025) and SCS/HCS/HB 154 (2023), and is substantially similar to HB 2079 (2026), HB 2253 (2026), HB 2568 (2026), SB 659 (2025), HB 345 (2025), HB 432 (2025), HB 872 (2025), HB 1587 (2025), HB 1418 (2024), HB 1464 (2024), HB 2174 (2024), HB 260 (2023), HB 452 (2023), HB 591 (2023), HB 896 (2023), HCS#2/HB 1992 (2022), HB 1817 (2022), and HB 2530 (2022), and to a provision in SS/SCS/SB 1534 (2026), SCS/SBs 1017 & 1239 (2026), HB 1029 (2025), HB 2815 (2024), HB 2887 (2024), HB 377 (2023), HCS/HBs 876, 771, 676 & 551 (2023), HB 1136 (2023), HB 1779 (2022), and HB 2249 (2022).
JOSH NORBERG
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1656
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR WEBBER.
5845S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 144.014, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to a sales
tax exemption for food.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 144.014, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 144.014, 2
to read as follows:3
144.014. 1. Notwithstanding other provisions of law 1
to the contrary, [beginning October 1, 1997, the tax levied 2
and imposed under this chapter on] all retail sales of food 3
shall be [at the rate of one percent. The revenue derived 4
from the one percent rate pursuant to this section shall be 5
deposited by the state treasurer in the school district 6
trust fund and shall be distributed as provided in section 7
144.701] exempted from the provisions of and from the 8
computation of the tax levied, assessed, or payable pursuant 9
to this chapter. The provisions of this subsection are 10
intended to exempt the sale of food from the state sales tax 11
rate imposed pursuant to this chapter, and the department of 12
revenue shall not construe the provisions of this subsection 13
as an exemption from the local sales tax law, as defined in 14
section 32.085. 15
2. For the purposes of this section, the term "food" 16
shall include only those products and types of food for 17
SB 1656 2
which food stamps may be redeemed pursuant to the provisions 18
of the Federal Food Stamp Program as contained in 7 U.S.C. 19
Section 2012, as that section now reads or as it may be 20
amended hereafter, and shall include food dispensed by or 21
through vending machines. For the purpose of this section, 22
except for vending machine sales, the term "food" shall not 23
include food or drink sold by any establishment where the 24
gross receipts derived from the sale of food prepared by 25
such establishment for immediate consumption on or off the 26
premises of the establishment constitutes more than eighty 27
percent of the total gross receipts of that establishment, 28
regardless of whether such prepared food is consumed on the 29
premises of that establishment, including, but not limited 30
to, sales of food by any restaurant, fast food restaurant, 31
delicatessen, eating house, or café. 32
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