Kroger stores aren’t taxing customers with a ‘BLM charge’

Some social media users are upset over what looks like a new fee on Kroger grocery store bills: a Black Lives Matter tax. 

On an image of a Kroger receipt that’s being shared on Facebook, a "BLM CHARGE" of 59 cents is circled in red. 

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Kristal Howard, a spokesperson for Kroger Co., told PolitiFact that the image is an altered version of this photo of a Kroger receipt. The original image shows that the receipt reflected a 59-cent "change shortage," not a 59-cent BLM charge. It was also posted on Facebook days before this version was published as social media users claimed that Kroger was overcharging customers — Snopes has a fact-check on that here.)

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Due to a coin shortage in the United States, Howard said, Kroger has introduced alternatives to giving quarters, nickels, dimes or pennies to customers as change. If customers pay with cash, stores can load their change onto cards to spend on a future shopping trip, or customers can round up their total bill to make a donation to the Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, Howard said. Customers can also get "coin change at a lane with coins available." 

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