Estimating the Revenue Loss from Food-for-home Consumption

The second food exemption, which was passed in 1996, is O.C.G.A Secs. 48-8-3(57). This exemption applies to “the sale of off-premises human consumption or use of eligible food and beverages...” The code goes on to define “eligible food and beverages” to mean food that can be purchased by food stamps, except that it does not include “seeds and plants to grow food” nor “food or drink dispensed by or through vending machines”. The Department of Revenue has published rules and regulations for the food exemption (Rule 560-12-2.104). These rules specify in detail which food items are exempt and which are not. Hot foods, food marketed to be heated on the premises, and pet food are not exempt. Food purchased at stores that do not accept food stamps are not exempt, unless the store can demonstrate that at least 50 percent of its sales are from food and beverage that are eligible for the exemption. Thus, food purchases at many convenience stores are not exempt.