Illinois Is Getting Rid Of It’s State Grocery Tax

You may not have to pay as much for groceries in Illinois.

Inflation has hit us all hard, especially when it comes to getting groceries. It feels like we're always paying more for food when we're actually getting less (looking at you, bags of chips).

But luckily, Illinoisans might be paying less for groceries, at least in the next few years.

Illinois is just one of 11 states that tax groceries. As of today, Governor Pritzker is taking them off of that map.

Our friends at KWQC report that the Governor signed a bill eliminating the state's 1% grocery tax effective January 1st, 2026. The grocery tax applies to things bought in the store that are intended to be consumed outside of it.

So it's still a hot minute away.

But here's the kicker: though the tax is repealed statewide, communities can choose to keep it in place.

It's likely several of them will, as thousands of revenue dollars have come to these cities from the grocery tax. Milan Trustee Bruce Stickell told KWQC that he believes removing the grocery tax will strain cities' budgets.

We have to get every revenue we can in order to keep property taxes low and to keep the businesses we have in Milan. Every time something gets taken away...you have to come up with another idea and how you can replace that. And it’s getting harder and harder.

Illinois cities have to make a decision by October 2025 to either pass an ordinance to continue the 1% grocery tax or to follow the state along and get rid of it.

Governor Pritzker has wanted to do this for a while. He said:

Even with inflation cooling off, every dollar counts, so I’m proud we’re doing what we can to make trips to the grocery store a little easier. It’s one more important part of lifting the burden on Illinois families. Establishing a child tax credit, eliminating medical debt, lowering the cost of healthcare, making college more affordable, bringing quality childcare closer to home so moms and dads can go to work — these are not esoteric policy proposals but actually do lift burdens everyday Illinoisans face.

Even though we're almost a year away from when cities have to make a decision on what to do with the grocery tax, it's sure to be a hot button topic at some point.