Candy Buyer Hack

Dear Dr. Per Cap: 

We’re planning a big community Halloween party and I need to buy enough candy for about 100 kiddos.  I shop at Walmart about 30 minutes away.  Any tips for how to stretch our budget?  Candy prices seem a lot higher this year.

Signed, 

Yikes!

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Dear Yikes,

I’m also a Walmart shopper and after buying Halloween candy the other day, I can attest to big price hikes for some candy products.  Since last year the price of my favorite candy bar, King Size Kit-Kat, has jumped from $1.97 to $2.78.   If a 41% price hike doesn’t give you a fright, let’s talk about another Halloween favorite, Bubble Yum.  10-piece packs are up 36 cents or 26% since last year.

For starters I recommend checking out a food or candy wholesale distributor, either online or a physical location if available.  Not only do many wholesalers offer lower prices for bulk purchases, they often carry unique or classic candies that are hard to find in mainstream retail stores these days.

Another more obscure tip I figured out a few years ago is to look closely at your receipt when buying candy.  In my state of residence some sweets and treats are taxed at different rates using codes such as X, R, and Y.

X items are classified as merchandise and subject to a 7% sales tax where I live.  However, R and Y items apply to dairy and non-dairy food items and are taxed at a much lower rate of 2%.  Why this matters is because some foods and candies are considered merchandise and taxed at that higher rate.

For example, my receipt listed King Size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and King Size Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars as X items.  But my beloved Kit Kats are listed as R items.  A quick internet search reveals the reason. Kit Kats contain flour which means they aren’t considered candy.  As do Twix bars which are also taxed at the lower rate.  These same tax rates apply to small snack sized candy bars too.

Lesson learned – when possible, stock up on Halloween treats that are taxed at lower food rates like mentioned above. Baked sweets which contain flour, like Pop Tarts, or meat snacks and jerky bites are non-candy treats you might want to consider too.

Turns out there are 20 states in the U.S. that have higher sales tax on candy than other food items.  States with large Native populations like Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Wisconsin are among them.  Of course, some states have no sales tax on candy and other foods.  And in other states candy is subject to the same sales tax rates as other food.

Sounds a bit confusing, but it’s definitely worth your time and money to check into how candy is taxed where you live. Bottom line – lower sales tax could save a lot on a big Halloween purchase.

And if you’re wondering why I know so much about sales tax on sweets, I admit it. I buy and eat lots of candy.  Happy Halloween!