Tennessee House Bill HB0633

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/31/25
• Refer: 2/5/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-6-228, relative to food and food ingredients.

Summary

HB0633 amends Tennessee’s sales tax law for food and food ingredients. Under current law, the retail sale of food and food ingredients for human consumption is generally taxed at 4 percent, and this bill keeps that general rule in place. The bill also creates a specific exemption for retail sales of fruit and vegetables that are fresh, frozen, or canned and intended for human consumption. The measure is set to take effect on July 1, 2025. In practical terms, it would reduce the sales tax burden on qualifying produce purchases while leaving the 4 percent tax applicable to other food and food ingredient sales unless another exemption applies. The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Section 67-6-228, which governs the state’s tax treatment of food items.

Impact

HB0633 would directly amend Tennessee’s sales tax statute for food and food ingredients, specifically Tennessee Code Annotated Section 67-6-228. It preserves the existing 4 percent tax rate on most food and food ingredients for human consumption, but exempts fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables from that tax. The affected parties would include consumers purchasing qualifying produce, as well as retailers that must apply the exemption at the point of sale and adjust tax collection practices beginning July 1, 2025.

Sentiment

No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, support, or opposition in the available materials. Based on the text alone, the bill appears to be a targeted tax relief measure focused on lowering the cost of produce for consumers. The absence of recorded legislative discussion means the overall sentiment cannot be measured from the provided context.

Contention

Because there are no committee transcripts or vote records, no specific points of contention are documented in the available materials. Potential issues that could arise from the bill’s text include the revenue impact of exempting produce from sales tax, the administrative burden on retailers to distinguish exempt fruits and vegetables from other taxable food items, and questions about whether the exemption should be limited to fresh, frozen, and canned produce rather than broader categories of healthy foods. However, these are inferred policy considerations rather than recorded objections.