I’m going to go ahead and assume that like many others, you’ll probably be out within the next two weeks buying Halloween candy for your neighborhood trick-or-treaters (and yourself).
I don’t know how you run things at your house during Halloween season, but at our place, my wife Amy is in charge of allocating Halloween candy. Amy has a candy-buying rule that she lives by, and that is she’ll only buy Halloween candy that we like.
That means no candy corn, peanut butter kisses (those awful black and/or orange wax paper-wrapped tooth-breaking pieces of garbage), Bit-O-Honeys, etc.
Photo by Branden Skeli on Unsplasha group of candyIllinois Taxes Candy In A Very Head-Scratching Sort Of Way
According to a piece at IllinoisPolicy.org, Illinois shoppers will pay higher taxes depending on the type of candy they choose for trick-or-treaters, sometimes at least six times higher taxes for some brands.
It’s bad enough that inflation is causing us to spend a lot more on Halloween candy (and everything else) than we would have even a year ago, but now we Illinois residents learn that candy taxes are far from being equitable.
Photo by DACHENGZI LIANG on Unsplasha can of beerWhy Is Some Candy Taxed Up To Six Times More Than Other Candy In Illinois?
Strangely enough, that question can be answered with one word:
Flour.
As IllinoisPolicy.org points out, “In Illinois, treats prepared with flour don’t count as ‘candy.’ That means Halloween favorites with flour including Kit Kats, Twizzlers and Twix aren’t recognized as candy because Illinois considers them to be food.”
So, despite what your own brain is telling you, these things are not candy (except they totally are):
SnickersMilky Way (Original)Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ CremeWhatchamacallitCrunch3 MusketeersReese’s Peanut Butter Cups with Pretzels or Reese’s Fast Break (while standard Reese’s are flourless candy, versions with wafers, cookies, or pretzels cross the line into groceries)
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplashyellow and red plastic packSince Those Candies Aren’t Candies But Are Actually Food (according to the state), Is It Wrong To Serve Them To The Family For Dinner?
Um, yes. It is wrong to serve them to your family for dinner unless you’re a family of elves, but I appreciate the attempt at grade school logic. However, you’re missing the overall point of our screwed up candy taxing in Illinois.
There’s a new wrinkle in this already-bizarre tax story. Beginning January 1, 2026, Illinois eliminated its 1% state sales tax on qualifying grocery items.
Candy that meets the state’s legal definition is still taxed at the regular 6.25% state rate, plus applicable local taxes. Treats containing flour that don’t qualify as candy may be treated as groceries instead, but local grocery taxes can still apply. In other words, the flour loophole is still a thing, but the old 1% versus 6.25% comparison doesn’t tell the whole story anymore.
The bottom line to all of this is that you can save yourself a bunch of money when buying your Halloween candy simply by buying only the candies that contain flour.
LOOK: 14 Things That Will Make You Nostalgic for Halloween in the ’80s
1980s-era Halloween had its own vibe, from the waxy candy bags to the widespread fear of razor blades in apples. Think you can handle the nostalgia? Keep scrolling if you dare!
Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz
