States Chew on Taxing Topic: Dried Cranberries, Fruit or Candy?

A hurtful epithet frequently hurled at the dried cranberry may soon be lifted by state tax agencies just in time for the holiday season.

We’re talking about the word candy—a term that in some jurisdictions transforms the dried cranberry from a tax-free, vitamin-packed superfood into a taxable high-calorie, no-nutrition belly bomb.

The legacy of discrimination oppressing the long-suffering cranberry has finally caught the attention of the state of Wisconsin, home to nearly two-thirds of the nation’s annual cranberry harvest, and the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, a pact establishing sales tax administration rules across 24 states. ...