Come 2026, Illinois' 1% sales tax on groceries will be eliminated. But dozens of suburbs across Chicago and the state will be implementing their own instead.
The move comes following the repeal of the state's grocery tax, which was eliminated when lawmakers passed their Fiscal Year 2025 budget last spring. When Gov. JB Pritzker signed the measure into law however, he granted municipalities the authority to implement their own as a way of preventing the loss of revenues generated.
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WATCH HEREEarlier this week, Carol Stream became the latest suburb to adopt one, with officials approving a new 1% grocery tax to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. A report from The Daily Herald said Carol Stream Finance Director Jon Batek estimated in a memo that without replacing the statewide tax the village could lose $550,000 to $600,000 in revenue.
Des Plaines and Lake Zurich also approved a 1% grocery tax each this week, set to go into effect Jan. 1.
Algonquin, Schaumburg, Wheaton and Elk Grove Village, Buffalo Grove, Lombard Wheeling also recently approved grocery taxes. Other suburbs, including Palatine and Burlington adopted similar ordinances last year. Shoppers are not expected to feel a big pinch, since the new taxes replace the current tax of the same amount.
Several other major communities around the state have done the same, including Peoria and Normal, according to the Peoria Journal-Star.
Champaign took a different approach, raising its overall sales tax to help offset the loss of revenue, according to WTTW.
Chicago Politics
The city of Chicago has not implemented a replacement grocery tax, and its unclear whether they will do so.
According to the Illinois Municipal League, there are a total of 224 home-rule communities in the state. Those communities, which either have more than 25,000 residents or who have approved home-rule referendums, have broader authority to levy new taxes than non-home rule communities, according to the league.
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SIGN UP According to reporting by the Daily Herald, communities have until Oct. 1 to approve new grocery taxes to avoid an interruption in revenue collection. As of April, approximately 50 towns across the state have already done so, the report said.
