HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) – Grocery shopping can be expensive, and the recent Kansas food sales tax cut was meant to bring relief, but for some customers that tax cut came with a hefty burden. tax charge.
On Sunday morning, Andrew Smith and his family drove to the Hutchinson Walmart to stock up.
“That’s when we would go shopping. We buy for a few weeks at a time,” said Smith, who handled food tax issues at Walmart.
They had a bill of $394, and with three kids, he said that was common.
“Plus it’s pretty normal prices and everything goes up,” Smith said.
His wife saw a Facebook post that others are charged more. Andrew checked his receipt and did some math only to realize it was wrong.
He went back to Walmart, where they told him that with the new food sales tax there were two different tax rates, but then he showed them the calculations.
And then it turned into, “Oh okay, maybe you’ve been charged twice.” So we sat down and split everything into non-food and food items, refiguring the tax to the amount I should have owed,” Smith said.
He was reimbursed about $20 and some change.
$20 is $20. We have three small children and groceries are not cheap at the moment. You have to stretch that dollar as far as you can,” Smith said.
The Kansas Department of Revenue released this statement to KSN on Tuesday:
The Kansas Department of Revenue is aware of a programming issue experienced by various Walmart stores regarding the reduction of state sales tax on groceries. The retailer has since resolved the issue.
Customers whose grocery purchases were made on or after January 1, 2023 should have received a 2.5% state sales tax rate reduction. The state sales tax reduction on groceries, which began Jan. 1, does not affect local tax rates.
If a customer has not seen this discount on approved grocery items, they should request a refund of the excess tax charged by visiting the retailer with a valid receipt.
Kansas Department of Revenue
Kansas State Rep. Adam Smith said while some things were wrong for customers, this change will require consumer education.
“I knew there would be growing difficulties since Kansas had never done this before, so it will take some time to get the public used to what is taxable, what isn’t,” said the representative from Kansas. Adam Smith, Weskan (R).
And if you were out on Sunday, Smith said to double-check your receipt.
The state tax on food sales was reduced from 6.5% to 4%. The items that will see this new tax are milk, eggs, meat and sweets. Alcohol, tobacco and prepared foods are not included.
Only the state sales tax on groceries decreases, so municipal and county taxes still apply. In Sedgwick County, the sales tax rate is 1%.
Walmart sent KSN News the following statement regarding the tax incident involving their stores on Wednesday.
On Jan. 1, after the Kansas food sales tax rate reduction went into effect, some customers were mistakenly charged the higher, obsolete rate, along with the new rate. The issue has been resolved and we apologize for any inconvenience.
Customers requesting a refund or having questions should take their receipt to their local Walmart store and speak to a member of management.
Ashley Nolan, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Walmart
The Kansas food sales tax will drop to 2% in 2024 and zero in 2025.
You can read more about the changes here.
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