The Illinois food tax changed on January 1, 2026: the state’s 1% sales tax on groceries is gone, so standard food you take home now carries zero state sales tax. Prepared food, candy, soft drinks, alcohol, and cannabis-infused food are still taxed at the full 6.25% state rate. And more than half of Illinois municipalities have passed their own 1% local grocery tax to replace what the state dropped, so your receipt may still show a tax line on bread and milk.1Illinois Department of Revenue. Illinois Grocery Tax Changes Effective January 1, 2026
What’s Exempt From State Sales Tax
Public Act 103-0781 ended the 1% state tax on qualifying groceries effective January 1, 2026. The exemption covers food for human consumption that you take home to eat rather than consume on the spot: produce, meat, dairy, bread, canned goods, frozen meals, rice, pasta, cooking oils, and the rest of what most people would call groceries. Bottled water and vitamins also fall within Illinois’s definition of food and qualify.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Administrative Code Title 86 Section 130.310 – Food, Soft Drinks, and Candy
The same exemption applies to food you order online or buy from an out-of-state retailer. The state’s use tax on qualifying groceries ended on the same date.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 35 ILCS 105 – Use Tax Act
The test is whether the retailer did the work to make the food ready to eat. A loaf of bread off the bakery shelf is exempt. A hot sandwich built at the deli counter is not, even if you plan to eat it tomorrow.
What Still Gets Taxed at 6.25%
Four categories of food and drink were carved out of the grocery exemption and are taxed at the full state rate.4Illinois Department of Revenue. PIO-115 Tax Rate Information for Retail Sales of Food and Medicine
Prepared Food
Any food a retailer has made ready to eat without further preparation on your part is taxed at 6.25%. Hot food always counts as prepared, no matter where you plan to eat it: rotisserie chicken, deli soup, a heated breakfast sandwich.
Candy
Illinois defines candy as a sweetened preparation of sugar, honey, or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or flavorings and formed into bars, drops, or pieces. One exception matters more than any other: if the product lists flour as an ingredient, it is not candy for tax purposes. That means some candy bars, chocolate-covered pretzels, cookies, and certain licorice slip into the exempt grocery category because their labels include flour. A mixed bag whose overall ingredient list mentions flour is treated as non-candy as a whole.5Cornell Law Institute. Illinois Administrative Code Title 86 Section 130.310 – Food, Soft Drinks, and Candy
Soft Drinks
Non-alcoholic beverages with natural or artificial sweeteners are soft drinks for tax purposes: soda, sweetened iced tea, energy drinks. Beverages that contain milk or milk substitutes, or that are more than 50% fruit or vegetable juice by volume, are not soft drinks and qualify for the grocery exemption.
Alcohol and Cannabis-Infused Food
Beer, wine, spirits, and food infused with adult-use cannabis have always been taxed at 6.25% and still are. The 2026 repeal did not touch either category.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 35 ILCS 120 – Retailers Occupation Tax Act
Local Grocery Taxes Most Cities Added
The same law that ended the state grocery tax gave municipalities and counties the power to impose their own 1% grocery tax by ordinance, with no referendum needed. Most took the deal. As of early 2026, 656 municipalities and three counties (Washington, Wabash, and Moultrie) have adopted a local 1% grocery tax. If you live in one of those places, your receipt still shows 1% on qualifying food; it just goes to your city or county instead of Springfield.7Illinois Department of Revenue. Proper Procedures for Collecting Local Grocery Tax on Sales of Grocery Items on and after January 1, 2026
The list is likely to grow. New ordinances filed with the Illinois Department of Revenue by April 1 take effect July 1 of the same year, and ones filed by October 1 take effect the following January 1.
Regional Transit Taxes on Food
On top of any local grocery tax, shoppers in the Chicago area and parts of the Metro-East have long paid mass transit district taxes on food. These existed before the repeal and continue unchanged.8Illinois Department of Revenue. Mass Transit District Sales Tax
- Cook County (RTA): 1.25% on qualifying food
- DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties (RTA): 0.75% on qualifying food
- Madison County (Metro-East MED): 0.25% on qualifying food
- St. Clair County (Metro-East MED): 0.75% on qualifying food
A Chicago shopper whose city adopted the 1% local grocery tax can see a combined 2.25% on groceries (1% local plus 1.25% RTA), even with the state portion at zero. That is lower than before, but it is not tax-free.
Medicines Stayed at 1%
Qualifying medicines and medical appliances sit in their own tier at a 1% state rate, and the grocery repeal did not change that. The 1% rate covers both prescription and nonprescription drugs, along with medical devices that qualify under state guidelines. Local taxes may apply on top.9Illinois Department of Revenue. What Is Significant About Retail Sales of Qualifying Drugs and Medical Appliances
Reading Your 2026 Receipt
A single trip to the grocery store can involve three different state tax rates applied to different items in the cart:
- 0% state tax on standard groceries: produce, meat, dairy, bread, pasta, rice, canned goods, frozen dinners, bottled water, vitamins.
- 1% state tax on prescription and nonprescription medicines and qualifying medical appliances.
- 6.25% state tax on prepared food, candy without flour, soft drinks, alcohol, and cannabis-infused food.
Local layers then stack on top. A store in a municipality that adopted the 1% grocery tax adds that to your qualifying groceries. A store in an RTA or Metro-East county adds the transit rate. That stacking is why the tax line rarely lands on a tidy number. If an item seems to be taxed more than you expected, check whether it falls into prepared food, candy, or soft drinks before assuming the register made a mistake. The flour rule on candy catches shoppers more often than anything else.