Is Food Taxed in CT? Groceries vs. Prepared Meals

In Connecticut, food is taxed depending on what it is and how it’s sold: groceries you take home to prepare are exempt from sales tax, prepared meals are taxed at 7.35%, and a handful of items like candy, soda, and alcohol are always taxed at the standard 6.35% rate. So the short answer to “is food taxed in CT” is: sometimes, and the category matters more than the store.

Groceries Are Exempt

Connecticut exempts food products for human consumption from its 6.35% sales tax under C.G.S. § 12-412(13). That covers almost everything you’d buy to cook at home: fresh produce, raw meat and poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, bread, cereal, rice, pasta, canned goods, frozen foods, cooking oils, spices, and condiments. Vegetable seeds you’d plant for food are exempt too.¹

The exemption turns on the food being in a form that still requires preparation and not being ready to eat on the spot. A loaf of bread, a block of cheese, a bag of frozen broccoli: all exempt. The deli counter and prepared-food aisle are where it gets complicated.

Prepared Meals Are Taxed at 7.35%

Any food sold ready for immediate consumption is a “meal” and taxed at 7.35%. That rate combines the 6.35% base tax with a 1% surcharge added on October 1, 2019.² The same rate applies to drinks ordinarily served at bars and soda fountains, including cocktails, beer, wine, and fountain drinks served with a meal.³

The meals tax covers dine-in food, takeout, drive-through, food trucks, and catering. A meal doesn’t have to be hot. A cold sandwich wrapped for grab-and-go is a taxable meal because it’s portioned for immediate eating.⁴

When Grocery Store Food Becomes a Meal

Since 2019, grocery stores have had to collect the 7.35% meals tax on anything they sell that’s ready for immediate consumption, using the same rules restaurants follow.² The Department of Revenue Services uses specific size and quantity thresholds to draw the line:

Ice cream and frozen desserts are taxable in containers smaller than one pint. A half-gallon from the freezer aisle is exempt.
Green salads are taxable in containers of 8 ounces or less. A larger container sold by weight at the deli counter is exempt.
Potato salad, pasta salad, and similar non-green salads follow the same 8-ounce threshold.
Donuts, muffins, bagels, and pastries are taxable when sold in quantities of five or fewer. A box of six or more is exempt.

A few items are taxable no matter the size. Whole cooked chickens, whole racks of ribs, and trays of pasta from a grocery store are treated as ready-to-eat meals rather than ingredients, even though they might feel like bulk purchases.² Whole uncooked pies, cold sliced deli meat sold by the pound, and cold salads sold by the pound stay exempt as bulk sales.⁴

Candy, Soda, and Alcohol Are Always Taxed

Several categories are carved out of the grocery exemption completely. They’re taxed at 6.35% wherever you buy them:

Candy and confectionery, including candy bars, gummy candy, candied fruit, candy-coated popcorn, chewing gum, breath mints, and chocolate-covered nuts. Baking chocolate and cocoa for cooking stay exempt.
Carbonated beverages of any kind: soda, sparkling water, seltzer.
Beer, wine, and spirits sold at retail. Cooking wine is exempt.
Pet food, since it isn’t for human consumption.

The candy definition sweeps in some items people don’t think of as candy, including yogurt-covered pretzels and carob-coated nuts.⁴ Plain still bottled water is treated as food and is tax-free. Add carbonation and it becomes taxable.¹

Delivery Fees, Service Charges, and Tips

When you order a taxable meal for delivery, the delivery charge is part of the taxed total. Connecticut defines gross receipts to include shipping and delivery, so a delivery fee is taxed at the same 7.35% as the food.⁵

Mandatory service charges are also taxed. A restaurant that adds an automatic 20% gratuity to a large-party bill has to charge sales tax on that amount. The only carveout is when the whole service charge passes directly to the employees who served the meal and the restaurant gets no financial benefit, including using it to offset payroll costs.⁶ Voluntary tips you write on the receipt yourself are never taxed.

Catering follows restaurant rules. Food, bartender and server charges, and dish and glassware fees are all part of the 7.35% base. Separately stated room rental charges are not taxable.²

Vending Machines Get a Break

Vending machine rules are more generous than the deli-counter rules. Food products sold through coin-operated vending machines are exempt from sales tax regardless of price. A sandwich, a bag of chips, or a container of juice from a vending machine is tax-free, even though the same sandwich from a deli counter would be a taxable meal.⁷

Candy and carbonated beverages stay taxable from vending machines as they do elsewhere. But any vending machine item priced at 50 cents or less is exempt, which pulls small candy bars back out of the tax.⁷

SNAP, WIC, and Dietary Supplements

Purchases made with SNAP benefits are exempt from Connecticut sales tax even if the items would otherwise be taxable. That exemption sits under C.G.S. § 12-412.¹ WIC food purchases are also tax-free; federal rules prohibit collecting sales tax on foods bought with WIC food instruments or cash-value vouchers.⁸

Dietary supplements are exempt under a separate provision, C.G.S. § 12-412(120). Vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements, amino acids, and protein powders marketed as supplements are all tax-free, and the DRS has confirmed nutritional shakes, protein bars, and whole-food concentrates in tablet or capsule form qualify as well.⁹

Connecticut Food Tax Rates at a Glance

Groceries for home cooking: 0%.¹
Meals and prepared food from restaurants, takeout, or the grocery deli: 7.35%.³
Candy, soda, and carbonated beverages: 6.35%.¹⁰
Alcoholic beverages at retail: 6.35%. Served with a meal or at a bar: 7.35%.²
Dietary supplements and vitamins: 0%.⁹
Vending machine food: 0%. Candy and soda from vending machines are taxable at 6.35% unless the item costs 50 cents or less.⁷

Connecticut has no local or municipal sales tax, so these rates apply statewide. What you pay in Bridgeport is what you pay in Greenwich or Hartford.¹⁰

1
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Exemptions from Sales and Use Taxes
2
Department of Revenue Services. Policy Statement PS 2019(5) Sales and Use Taxes on Meals
3
Connecticut General Assembly. OLR Backgrounder: Connecticut’s Sales and Use Tax
4
Connecticut eRegulations. Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies Sec. 12-426-29
5
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Ruling 2018-1 Sales and Use Taxes Resale of Meals Delivery Charges
6
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. PS 92(15.1) Application of Sales and Use Taxes and the Room Occupancy Tax to Service Charges
7
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. PS 2001(5) Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Food Sold Through Coin-Operated Vending Machines
8
eCFR. Part 246 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
9
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Ruling 2016-2 Sales and Use Taxes Food Products Nonprescription Drugs and Medicines
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Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Sales and Use Tax Information