NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With Election Day set for Tuesday, Nov. 3, the 4 percent state sales tax on food has become one of the clearest dividing lines among the people asking Tennessee voters to make them governor.
Every major candidate now says some version of yes to ending the tax, but they part ways on how the state would replace the money. Democrat Jerri Green and independents Lauren Pinkston and David Hatley have each put the yearly cost of repeal at about $800 million. Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn, now serving in the U.S. Senate, has said she favors repeal but wants to first root out waste through a Tennessee version of a government efficiency office and then see what the budget allows.
Green has said she would make corporations and the wealthiest residents carry more of the load, arguing that low- and middle-income households feel the food tax most. Pinkston has proposed closing loopholes that let related companies move profits out of state and trimming incentives for big corporate projects, and she has warned that shoppers in border counties already cross into neighboring states for cheaper groceries. Hatley has said cutting waste in the $59 billion state budget would cover the loss, and he has pointed out that repeal bills have failed to clear the House.
Only a dozen states, Tennessee among them, still apply sales tax to groceries. With no tax on wages or personal income, Tennessee leans hard on sales taxes, giving it one of the highest combined sales tax rates in the country. Corporate taxes made up roughly 4.4 percent of state revenue in August, according to state figures cited by a nonpartisan policy group.
Property taxes are part of the same debate. Blackburn has made passing Amendment 2, which would write a ban on any state property tax into the Tennessee Constitution, her first priority, and she backs relief for seniors and first-time buyers. Hatley wants a 5 percent annual cap on property tax increases unless voters approve more.
Early voting ended Thursday. Whoever wins will need the General Assembly to act before any change shows up at the checkout line.
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