On May 26 the Buckeye Institute’s 1851 Center for Constitutional Law filed an amicus brief before the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of the Ohio Grocer’s Association. The Brief argues that because the Ohio Constitution prohibits a sales tax on food, because Ohio’s Commercial Activities Tax taxes grocers based upon the amount of food they sell, and because Ohio grocers, like any business, pass the tax on to Ohio consumers, the CAT, as applied to food, is an unconstitutional sales tax on food.

View the Amicus Brief here.

In May 2009, the 1851 Center filed an amicus brief in Ohio Grocers Association v. Wilkins. The brief argues that Ohio’s Commercial Activities Tax is an unconstitutional excise tax on food. It  is levied on Ohio grocers based on the amount of food they sell and grocers then pass the cost of the tax on to Ohioans when they purchase food.  The 1851 Center was recruited by the principal attorneys for the Ohio Grocers Association and worked in tandem with the Tax Foundation to explain the economics of the tax to the Supreme Court of Ohio.  Unfortunately the Supreme Court of Ohio recently overturned the Court of Appeals and ruled against the Ohio Grocers.

Ohio Grocers Amicus – Click Here