House panel defeats bill to remove state sales tax on food

PIERRE, S.D. - A South Dakota legislative committee has voted down a Democrat-backed bill that would have eliminated the state sales tax on food.

The House Taxation Committee voted 11-3 Tuesday to defeat the bill. It would have increased the state’s 4.5 percent sales tax rate on other goods and services to remove the tax on food for home consumption.

Long a popular idea among Democratic lawmakers, such food sales tax bills have failed in the past. Democratic Rep. Ray Ring, the bill’s main sponsor, says the measure would help make South Dakota’s tax structure less regressive.

Business organizations, Republican lawmakers and the executive branch opposed the bill. Mark Quasney of the Bureau of Finance and Management says that exempting food would make state revenues more volatile.

Read more: http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/07/house-panel-defeats-bill-remove-state-sales-tax-food/97594992/