Published
September 10, 2026
Schnucks Rewards members who redeemed Rewards Points on purchases of tax-eligible items at a Missouri Schnucks store between May 2, 2020 and August 7, 2026 may qualify to claim a flat $7 from the Schnucks sales tax class action settlement. Claims close November 3, 2026, and the Access Code and PIN from the postcard notice are required to file online.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to submit a Claim Form is November 3, 2026 — online by 11:59 p.m. Central Time, or postmarked by that date if you mail a paper form. The same date is the deadline to exclude yourself or to object. The Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri has granted preliminary approval and authorized notice, and the final approval hearing is set for December 4, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Richard M. Stewart. The court has not yet decided whether to approve the settlement, no payments have been issued and no payment date has been announced. If a postcard or email notice arrived, the action to take now is to file before November 3.
Status
Claims Open
Claim Deadline
November 3, 2026
Online by 11:59 p.m. Central or postmarked by this date · same date to opt out or object
Estimated Payout
$7
A flat amount per valid claim · not a share of a fund, so it does not shrink as more people file
Proof Required
Yes — ID to file online
Access Code and PIN from the postcard notice required online · no receipts · a paper form can be mailed without one
What Changed Recently?
The claim window opened. The court granted preliminary approval and the settlement administrator, Rust Consulting, Inc., began the notice program described in the Settlement Agreement: a direct email to class members Schnucks has addresses for, follow-up notices, postcards to addresses that bounce, and a banner linking to the settlement website inside the Schnucks Rewards app. The Notice sets the class period as May 2, 2020 through August 7, 2026; the Settlement Agreement defines that period as ending on the date of preliminary approval.The underlying case is Garcia v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., Case No. 25SL-CC04761, filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri on May 5, 2025. The petition alleges that when a Schnucks Rewards member redeemed Rewards Points on a purchase, Schnucks calculated and charged Missouri sales tax on the full pre-discount price rather than on the lower discounted price, and pleads unlawful, unfair, deceptive and misleading practices along with unjust enrichment, negligence, and money had and received. Schnucks moved to dismiss and to compel arbitration in June 2025, withdrew the arbitration motion before argument, and the court denied the motion to dismiss on September 9, 2025. The parties mediated on January 13, 2026 before Bradley A. Winters and signed the Settlement Agreement in June 2026.
Schnucks denies all allegations of wrongdoing and disclaims liability on every claim. The Settlement Agreement states that it is made without any admission or concession of liability, and the settlement website's own summary says the company entered into the settlement to reach an expedient, agreeable solution and to move forward with clarity and a continued focus on its customers. The court has made no determination on the merits.
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Who Qualifies?
The settlement class is Schnucks Rewards Members, excluding Schnucks employees, who completed purchases of tax-eligible items from any Schnucks store in the state of Missouri during the class period, whether in person or online, in which Rewards Points were redeemed by the customer. The class period runs from May 2, 2020 through August 7, 2026.Four elements have to line up. You had to be enrolled in the Schnucks Rewards program. The purchase had to be at a Missouri store — Schnucks operates in several states, and the case is about Missouri sales tax. The items had to be tax-eligible, so a purchase made up entirely of exempt goods does not count. And Rewards Points had to be redeemed on that transaction; an ordinary purchase at the shelf price is outside the class no matter how much you spent.
The Notice and the Claim Form add a qualifier the Settlement Agreement's class definition does not spell out: the purchases must have been primarily for personal, family or household purposes. The paper Claim Form asks you to confirm that, along with confirming that it is your first and only claim and that you are not a Schnucks employee or an immediate family member of one.
The excluded group is the usual list plus a few names specific to this case: Judge Richard M. Stewart and any judge who later presides, counsel for both sides and their firms, the mediator, their employees and immediate families, any government entity, Schnucks itself and any entity it controls along with its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers and directors, and anyone who timely opts out. Schnucks estimates roughly 900,000 people are in the class, and says it has email addresses for almost all of them, so the practical test is whether a notice reached you.
How Much Can You Get?
Every claimant who submits a timely and valid Claim Form is paid $7.00. There are no tiers, no documented-loss category and no pro rata calculation — the amount is fixed in the Settlement Agreement, so it does not shrink if a large number of people file. Schnucks has agreed to pay valid claims up to approximately $6,300,000, which is what roughly 900,000 claims at $7 would cost if every class member filed.The money for claims sits outside every other payment in the deal. Schnucks pays notice and administration costs separately, and the fee award and service award are separate again, so none of them reduces what a claimant receives. Class Counsel may apply for up to $1,980,000 in attorneys' fees, costs and expenses, which Schnucks has agreed not to oppose, and will ask the court to approve a $7,000 service award for the class representative. The court decides both amounts, and the Settlement Agreement provides that if it awards less than requested the difference is simply not payable — it does not revert to a fund for the class, and the settlement stays in force either way.
You choose how to be paid when you file. Payments go out as paper checks or as digital payments, and the parties agreed to work toward PayPal and Venmo as the administrator approves. That choice is only available to online filers: a class member who mails a paper Claim Form can select a physical check only, and has to supply correct contact information for it to reach them.
The check-cashing rules are tight enough to matter. A check must be negotiated within 60 days of issuance or it is voided and a second one is issued, subject to the same 60-day window. After that the administrator may issue a third check only where a claimant shows special circumstances — the agreement describes that as a claimant who exercised due diligence and still could not cash the first two. A failed PayPal or Venmo payment triggers a request to link the payment to another account, and if nothing happens within 30 days the payment is voided and a paper check is issued instead.
The settlement also carries relief that does not depend on filing anything. Under the injunctive relief, Schnucks will treat the dollar value of Rewards Points redeemed on a transaction as a pre-tax discount, lowering the pre-tax subtotal, and will calculate sales tax due on that discounted subtotal. The Notice puts the deadline for that point-of-sale change at March 31, 2027, and the change applies to Missouri transactions involving a Rewards Points redemption.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
No receipts, no records of individual purchases and no evidence of what you were charged are required. Proof is still required in the sense that decides this page's tier: the online claim form opens only after you enter an Access Code and a PIN, and both are printed on the postcard notice. The settlement website states plainly that you cannot file your claim online without them. Under OCA's standard, an administrator-issued credential that gates the claim counts as proof, because someone who never received a notice cannot simply log in and file.There are two routes around the login. Class members who were notified by email were sent a link that goes directly to the claim form, so the code is not the only way in. And anyone can download a paper Claim Form from the settlement website, complete it and mail it — the settlement website says so explicitly for people who never received a postcard or have misplaced it. The trade-offs on the paper route are real: a paper filer is limited to a physical check, must provide correct contact information, and has to get the form postmarked rather than submitted at the last minute.
The Claim Form itself asks for identity and contact information rather than evidence. It takes your name, mailing address, the telephone number on your Schnucks Rewards account and your email address, plus three confirmations — that this is your first and only claim, that you are not a Schnucks employee or an immediate family member of one, and that you use your Rewards account primarily for personal, family or household purchases. You sign and date it, certifying the statements are true to the best of your knowledge, and the form warns that false or misleading submissions may result in denial. The administrator reviews every claim for timeliness and validity, has 30 days from receipt to do it, and sends a notice giving you 30 days to cure a form that is incomplete or inaccurate.
What Is the Deadline?
November 3, 2026 governs all three options. A Claim Form submitted online has to be in by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on that date; a paper Claim Form has to be postmarked by it. Late forms are denied unless both parties agree otherwise and the court approves, so the date is the one to work to.Requests for exclusion must be postmarked by November 3, 2026 as well, and mailed to the administrator. A valid request has to be personally signed by the class member or an authorized representative and include your full name and current mailing address, the telephone number and email address associated with your Schnucks Rewards account, and a clear statement that you want to be excluded from the settlement in Garcia v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., Case No. 25SL-CC04761. Only individual class members may opt out — the Settlement Agreement does not permit mass or class opt-outs, and a request that does not substantially comply is ineffective unless the parties agree otherwise.
Objections must be filed with the court and served on both Class Counsel and Schnucks' counsel, postmarked by November 3, 2026. A valid objection carries your full name, current mailing address and email address if you have one, a written statement of your objection with any supporting documentation, your lawyer's name and contact information if you have retained one, a statement of whether you or your lawyer intend to appear at the final approval hearing, and your signature. You cannot both object and exclude yourself: if a class member submits both, the exclusion is treated as valid and the objection is disregarded.
How Do You Take Action?
File at the official settlement website, Schnucks Tax Settlement. If you received a postcard, the Access Code and PIN printed on it open the online form; if you received the notice by email, the link in that email goes straight to the claim form. A paper Claim Form can be downloaded from the same site, completed and mailed, and the site's contact page is the route to ask the administrator for a replacement form or for help.The Notice, Claim Form, Settlement Agreement and the motions and orders on preliminary and final approval are all posted on the settlement website as they become available. Read the release before deciding to do nothing. It is broad: on the effective date, every class member who has not excluded themselves fully and forever releases the Released Parties from claims of every kind connected to the Schnucks sales practices asserted or described in the petition, known or unknown, and is barred from prosecuting any of them in any forum. The Released Parties reach past Schnucks itself to its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, officers, directors, employees and attorneys. Claims for alleged bodily injury arising out of Schnucks' sales practices are carved out and are not released.
That release is why doing nothing is the worst of the three options: it binds you whether or not you file, so a class member who ignores the notice gives up those claims and is paid nothing for them. Excluding yourself is the only route that keeps the right to bring them on your own, and it costs you the $7.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the final approval hearing on December 4, 2026 at 9:00 a.m., in Division 2 or another assigned division of the St. Louis County Circuit Court in Clayton, Missouri. The court will decide whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 52.08, whether to finally certify the settlement class, and whether the notice program met the requirements of the rule, and will rule on any objections and on the fee, cost and service-award requests. The hearing may move to a different division, date or time without further notice, so the settlement website is where to check for changes.If the court approves the settlement, payment follows a sequence rather than a fixed date. The settlement becomes effective when the final approval order is no longer subject to review, rehearing or appeal — the settlement website describes that as 30 days after final approval if nobody appeals. The administrator then has 14 days after it finishes validating claims to tell Schnucks what the claims are worth, Schnucks funds the total by the later of 30 days after the effective date or 30 days after receiving that figure, and the administrator distributes payments within 30 days of receiving the money. An appeal pushes all of it back. No payment date has been announced.
The deal can still come apart. If the court declines preliminary or final approval, or the judgment is vacated, reversed or materially modified on appeal and the parties do not agree in writing to proceed, either side may treat the settlement as null and void, the provisional certification is vacated, and the parties return to where they stood before signing. Nothing said or done in the settlement can then be used against either side.
Sources and Verification
This page is based on the official settlement website, the court-approved class notice and Claim Form, and the Settlement Agreement in Garcia v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., Case No. 25SL-CC04761, Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri. The settlement website styles the caption Garcia v. Schnuck Market, Inc.; the Settlement Agreement names the defendant Schnuck Markets, Inc.- Official settlement website — Schnucks Tax Settlement (claim portal, FAQ, settlement documents, important dates)
- Settlement Agreement, Garcia v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, Case No. 25SL-CC04761 (embedded below)
- Detailed Class Notice and Short-Form Class Notice, as posted on the settlement website
- Schnucks Tax Settlement Claim Form (paper version), Rust Consulting, Inc.
Schnucks has been through a Missouri consumer class action before: the separate $4 million Schnucks alcohol pricing settlement closed after final approval and its payments were completed. For the wider picture, see the full list of open class action settlements, the settlements that need no proof to file, or the explainers on what a class action claim form asks for and what preliminary approval actually decides.
Questions
Do I need my Access Code and PIN to file a Schnucks sales tax claim?
To file online, yes. The claim portal on the settlement website opens only after you enter the Access Code and PIN printed on the postcard notice, and class members who received the notice by email were sent a direct filing link instead. No receipts are required either way. A paper Claim Form can be downloaded from the settlement website and mailed in, and that route does not depend on the online login — but a paper filer can only be paid by check, and must supply correct contact information.
Why is the Schnucks settlement payment only $7?
The claim is over the sales tax charged on the Rewards Points portion of a discounted purchase, which is a small amount on any one transaction. The Settlement Agreement sets a flat $7.00 per valid claim rather than a share of a fund, so the figure does not rise or fall with the number of people who file. Schnucks estimates roughly 900,000 class members and has agreed to pay up to approximately $6.3 million in claims, on top of notice and administration costs, the attorneys' fee award and the service award, all of which it pays separately.
What is Schnucks changing about how it calculates sales tax?
Under the injunctive relief in the Settlement Agreement, Schnucks will treat the dollar value of Rewards Points redeemed on a transaction as a pre-tax discount, lowering the pre-tax subtotal, and will calculate Missouri sales tax on that discounted subtotal. The Notice puts the deadline for the point-of-sale change at March 31, 2027. The agreement also says compliance is subject to the regulatory and statutory requirements in force at the time, and a separate paragraph allows Schnucks a reasonable extension, on a showing of good-faith effort, if it cannot finish the work before December 31, 2026.
What happens if I do nothing about the Schnucks settlement?
You receive no money and you are still bound by the release. The release in the Settlement Agreement covers every class member who does not submit a timely request for exclusion, whether or not they file a claim, and it reaches claims connected to the Schnucks sales practices described in the petition. Excluding yourself by November 3, 2026 is the only option that preserves the right to sue Schnucks separately over those claims. Claims for alleged bodily injury arising out of Schnucks' sales practices are carved out of the release.
What happens to Schnucks settlement checks nobody cashes?
Nothing goes back to Schnucks. A check that is not negotiated within 60 days of issuance is voided and reissued once, and the administrator may issue a third check where a claimant shows special circumstances. The Settlement Agreement then describes two routes for the money that remains: it says uncashed checks are declared dormant on the 67th day after the second check and escheat to the claimant's last known state of residence, and in the same paragraph that unclaimed settlement payments are disbursed to ArchCity Defenders or another cy pres recipient the court approves. The settlement website's FAQ names only ArchCity Defenders or another non-profit.
Is this the same as the earlier Schnucks alcohol pricing settlement?
No. It is a separate case with a separate class. The earlier Missouri settlement resolved claims that Schnucks charged shelf prices on alcohol that differed from the advertised price; its claim window closed and its payments were completed. This case is about how Missouri sales tax was calculated when Rewards Points were redeemed, and it has its own class period, its own claim form and its own deadline.
Official Settlement Agreement
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Settlement Amount
Up to about $6.3M in claims
$7 per valid claim · notice, administration, fees and the service award paid separately
Case Title
Garcia v. Schnuck Markets, Inc.
Case Number
25SL-CC04761
Court
Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri
Final Approval Hearing
December 4, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Clayton, MO · Division 2 · before Judge Richard M. Stewart · date may change
Class Counsel
Orlowsky Law, LLC and Goffstein Law, LLC
Administrator
Rust Consulting, Inc.
Official Website
Schnucks Tax Settlement
