Dear L.C.- My husband and I were both laid off last year. We signed up for food stamps and it has helped, but it doesn’t stretch far enough with 3 kids. Can we use coupons if we are on food stamps?
Yes, you can use coupons with food stamps, also known as EBT or SNAP. It is a great idea and will make your food stamps go further.
Some stores charge sales tax on the coupon value. So, if you use a $1.00 coupon and sales tax is 5 percent, you may have to pay 5 cents to use that coupon. Anything put on your food stamp/EBT card is not taxable, but when you use a coupon, the manufacturer (not EBT) is paying for that coupon value, and it may be taxed (depending on how your state’s sales tax is set up.)
But even if you have to pay 5 cents to use a $1.00 coupon, you are still saving 95 cents on that item! It is definitely worth it to use coupons with your food stamps, just bring some change to pay any sales tax.
