Grocery, gas taxes set to rise in Illinois next month

fox2now.com ^ | June 14, 2023 | Joey Schneider

[lowbridge]

Two weekly tasks – going to the grocery store and filling up your gas tanks – are about to get more expensive in Illinois.

By July 1, Illinois will reinstate a 1% tax on grocery purchases and bump up the state’s gas tax another 3.1 cents per gallon.

Last year, Illinois suspended its grocery tax as part of a $46.5 billion state budget plan to combat inflation. The state also paused a plan to raise gas taxes for six months, though that came with a 3.1-cent increase per gallon on New Year’s Day and another 3.1-cent per gallon in July.

State officials estimated last year the suspended grocery store sales tax would save taxpayers up to $400 million. The freeze came at a time when the consumer price index for groceries rose around 7%. That could rise another 4-8% by the end of 2023.

SuperMarketNews.com says Illinois is one of 13 states with a grocery sales tax, though it has the lowest one among states that enforce them. The suspended tax only applied to food and drinks that are meant to be consumed off site, aside from candy, soda and liquor.

As for gas, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law in 2019 that doubled the state’s gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents that year and will lead to a 3.1% rise in the gas tax every year unless otherwise announced. It’s part of an infrastructure plan to help improve the roads.

[Graybeard58]

Well, Illinois, you voted for this, so you better embrace it.

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I didn’t vote for it.

[Graybeard58]

Enjoy the suck. It’s what you voted for.

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I didn.t vote for it.

[Graybeard58]

Enjoy the suck. It’s what you voted for.

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I didn.t vote for it.

[Graybeard58]

and maybe the county adjacent to Saint Louis

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It’s red too. East St. Louis is a very small city.