Is Food Taxed in Massachusetts? Groceries, Meals, and SNAP

Most food you buy in Massachusetts is not taxed. The state’s 6.25% sales tax applies to prepared meals, not to the groceries you take home to cook, so the short answer to whether food is taxed in Massachusetts is: it depends on whether the item counts as a grocery or a meal. Groceries are exempt. Meals from restaurants (and parts of stores that act like restaurants) are taxed at 6.25%, and 267 cities and towns add a 0.75% local surcharge on top.

What’s Exempt at the Grocery Store

Massachusetts exempts “food products for human consumption” from sales tax when purchased as groceries. The statutory list is wide: cereals, flour, milk and dairy, meat, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, sugar, coffee, tea, cocoa, and ice for household use are all exempt.¹

Here’s where Massachusetts surprises people. Candy, soft drinks, and bottled water are all included in the exempt “food products” category, unlike many states that carve them out as taxable.¹ A bag of candy from the checkout aisle, a six-pack of soda, or a case of bottled water from the supermarket comes home tax-free. The same candy bar becomes taxable only when it’s sold at a restaurant or from a vending machine priced at $3.50 or more.²

When Food Becomes a Taxable Meal

The 6.25% tax kicks in when food crosses from grocery item to “meal.” Under Massachusetts law, a meal is any food or beverage prepared for immediate consumption and provided by a restaurant, and the tax applies whether you eat there or take it to go.¹

The word “restaurant” is broader than you might expect. It covers sit-down restaurants, cafes, diners, coffee shops, cocktail lounges, and hotel dining rooms, but also catering businesses, food trucks, snack bars, theater concession stands, and parts of stores that function like restaurants.² A supermarket deli counter selling sandwiches, or a salad bar where you pay by weight, is treated as a restaurant, and those items are taxable.

Common examples of taxable prepared food:

Hot food of any kind, from a rotisserie chicken to a slice of pizza, a cup of soup, or a hot coffee.
Sandwiches from convenience stores, taxable whether or not they’re prepackaged or heated.²
Salad bar items you assemble and pay for by weight.
Fountain drinks and poured coffee, even though the same beverage in a sealed bottle on the shelf is exempt.

The Bakery Six-Item Rule

Bakeries that also sell sandwiches, coffee, or other lunch counter items get classified as restaurants. Once that happens, unpackaged baked goods become taxable with one important exception: baked goods sold in quantities of six or more for takeout are exempt. The six can be mixed, so two bagels, three muffins, and a danish qualify, and a whole pie, cake, or loaf of bread counts as six-plus servings.²

Vending Machines

Vending machines follow a price threshold. A machine selling only items priced below $3.50 apiece is not treated as a restaurant, and every sale is tax-free. But if a single item in the machine is priced at $3.50 or more, every sale from that machine becomes taxable.³ Ice from a vending machine is presumed to be for household use and is always exempt.

The Extra 0.75% Local Meals Tax

Cities and towns can add a 0.75% local excise on restaurant meals on top of the 6.25% state tax, bringing the total to 7% where it applies.⁴ As of early 2026, 267 municipalities including Boston have adopted it. The local surcharge only applies to meals, not to exempt grocery purchases. You can check whether a specific city or town has adopted it through the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s local tax option database.

Takeout That Escapes the Meals Tax

Even at a place that qualifies as a restaurant, a few takeout categories stay exempt:

Beverages in original sealed containers of at least 26 fluid ounces taken off-premises. A sealed two-liter soda from a pizza shop, for example, is not taxed.²
Food sold by weight, measure, or count in original packaging from the non-restaurant section of a store, like a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, or packaged deli meat.
Bakery items in quantities of six or more for takeout.

Things That Look Like Food but Are Always Taxed

A handful of categories fall outside the food products exemption regardless of where you buy them.

Dietary supplements. Products in capsule, tablet, powder, liquid, lozenge, or pill form marketed as dietary supplements are not “food products” under state law and carry the 6.25% sales tax.¹ Edible oils are a gray area: an oil labeled and marketed as food is exempt even if the label uses the words “dietary supplement,” but an oil marketed solely as a supplement is taxable.⁵

Alcoholic beverages. Alcohol is excluded from the food products exemption. At a restaurant or bar, it’s subject to the 6.25% state meals tax and any local surcharge. Bought at a package store for off-premises consumption, alcohol is exempt from sales tax but still carries separate state excise taxes.¹

Marijuana edibles. Marijuana products intended for consumption are explicitly excluded from the food products exemption, even when they take the form of gummies, baked goods, or beverages.¹

Paying with SNAP

Purchases made with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are exempt from sales tax, including items that would otherwise be taxable as meals. Retailers cannot charge state or local tax on any portion of a transaction paid with SNAP.⁶ On a split transaction, tax applies only to the portion paid with cash or a card.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 64H, Section 6
2
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Meals
3
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. 830 CMR 64H.6.5 Sales Tax on Meals
4
Mass.gov. Local Option Excise Taxes
5
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Directive 00-6: Sales Tax Treatment of Sales of Dietary Supplements and Edible Oils or Food Oils
6
Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. SNAP Retailer Notice – Sales Tax, Fees, and Refunds