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Read. Follow. Verify.Idaho House Bill 633 exempts groceries from sales tax, repeals grocery tax credit, and alters local revenue sharing
Last action · February 12, 2026: Reported Printed; Filed in the Office of the Chief ClerkSponsor: David Leavitt
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What This Bill Proposed
Idaho House Bill 633 exempts food sold for human consumption from the state sales and use tax starting June 1, 2026, while repealing the existing grocery tax credit and modifying sales tax revenue distributions to local governments and funds beginning July 1, 2026.
- Idaho has long debated the taxation of groceries, balancing broad sales tax exemptions against targeted tax credits designed to offset food tax burdens for lower-income residents. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Idaho Consumers
Local Governments and Counties
Local units of government receive modified allocations from sales tax revenue-sharing distributions.
State Tax Commission
The State Tax Commission is required to calculate and distribute adjusted sales tax revenue allocations and manage refunds.
Key Facts
- Exempts food sold for human consumption from state sales and use taxes, defining eligible food by federal SNAP criteria.
- Excludes restaurant sales, heated food, combined food ingredients, and food sold with eating utensils from the grocery sales tax exemption.
- Repeals Section 63-3024A relating to food tax credits and refunds.
- Repeals information exchange agreements with the Idaho Department of Correction and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Show all 8 facts
- Increases the percentage of sales tax revenues distributed to the revenue-sharing account from 11.5% to 13.2%.
- Updates sales tax distributions for counties, cities, special purpose taxing districts, highway projects, and school support programs.
- Amends child support provisions regarding court orders, tax benefits, and child support guidelines.
- Establishes an emergency effective date of June 1, 2026, for the grocery tax exemption and July 1, 2026, for all other sections.
Frequently Asked Questions
What foods are exempt from the sales tax under this bill?
Does the exemption apply to prepared foods or restaurant meals?
What happens to the existing grocery tax credit?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 12, 2026Reported Printed; Filed in the Office of the Chief Clerk
- Feb 11, 2026IntroducedIntroduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Transition from Tax Credit to Direct Exemption
The legislation shifts Idaho's method of providing food tax relief from a post-tax credit and refund system to a point-of-sale sales tax exemption.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.idaho.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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