NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Groceries got slightly cheaper at the register in Nashville this month. Starting Sunday, Nov. 1, the Metro local-option sales tax on eligible food in Davidson County dropped from 2.25% to 1.75%.
The state still collects its 4% tax on food, so the total rate shoppers pay on qualifying groceries is now 6.25% instead of 6.75%. That works out to roughly 50 cents saved on every $100 of eligible food. City leaders have estimated a typical family will keep about $6 a month.
The cut covers food and food ingredients as state law defines them. Other items on store shelves are still taxed at the full rate, and the separate half-cent surcharge for the Choose How You Move transit program is not affected.
The change was made possible by a state law passed in May. Rather than cutting the grocery tax statewide, the Tennessee legislature let metropolitan governments lower or drop their own local tax on food. Council members signed off on the half-cent reduction over the summer, in June.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office projects the lower rate will leave $8 million to $9 million a year in residents’ pockets. A Metro budget analysis put the cost to the city at $9.2 million in lost revenue in fiscal 2027.
Not everything in a shopping cart gets the break. Because the reduction applies only to items that count as food under state rules, a single receipt from a Nashville grocery store can carry two different tax rates, one for qualifying food and another for everything else.
Council members have been split over whether the trim is worth the lost money, and some have floated a larger cut down the road.
Section: More Nashville TN politics news
Filed under: Nashville TN Politics News
