§ 47–2002(Perm). Imposition of tax.

*NOTE: This codification is not the most current, due to recent law changes. To see the current law (including emergency and temporary legislation, if relevent) click this link: Current Version*

(a) A tax is imposed upon all vendors for the privilege of selling at retail certain tangible personal property and for the privilege of selling certain selected services (defined as "retail sale" and "sale at retail" in this chapter). The rate of such tax shall be 6.00% of the gross receipts from sales of or charges for such tangible personal property and services, except that:

(1) The rate of tax shall be 18% of the gross receipts from the sale of or charges for the service of parking or storing of motor vehicles or trailers, except the service of parking or storing of motor vehicles or trailers on a parking lot owned or operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and located adjacent to a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority passenger stop or station;

(2)(A) The rate of tax shall be 10.20% of the gross receipts from the sale of or charges for any room or rooms, lodgings, or accommodations furnished to a transient by any hotel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin, or any other place in which rooms, lodgings, or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients;

(B) If the occupancy of a room or rooms, lodgings, or accommodations is reserved, booked, or otherwise arranged for by a room remarketer, the tax imposed by this paragraph shall be determined based on the net charges and additional charges received by the room remarketer.

(3) The rate of tax shall be 9% of the gross receipts from the sale of or charges for:

(A) Food or drink prepared for immediate consumption as defined in § 47-2001(g-1) or spirituous or malt liquors, beer, and wine sold by an alcoholic beverage licensee acting under authority of §§ 25-112(h)(1), 25-113(a)(3)(C), or 25-113.01(f) or (g);

(B) Spirituous or malt liquors, beers, and wine sold for consumption on the premises where sold.

(3A) The rate of tax shall be 10.25% of the gross receipts of the sales of or charges for spirituous or malt liquors, beers, and wine sold for consumption off the premises where sold, unless sold by an alcoholic beverage licensee acting under authority of §§ 25-112(h)(1), 25-113(a)(3)(C), or 25-113.01(f) or (g);

(4) [Repealed].

(4A) The rate of tax shall be 6.00% of the gross receipts from the sale of or charges for tangible personal property or services by legitimate theaters, or by entertainment venues with 10,000 or more seats, excluding any such theaters or entertainment venues from which such taxes are applied to pay debt service on tax-exempt bonds;

(4B) The rate of tax shall be 9.25% of the gross receipts from the sale of or charges for rental or leasing of rental vehicles and utility trailers as defined in § 50-1505.01;

(5) [Repealed].

(6) [Repealed].

(7)(A) The rate of tax shall be 6% of the gross receipts from the sale of or charges for medical marijuana, as defined in [Chapter 16B of Title 7].

(B) The proceeds of the tax collected under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall be deposited in the Healthy DC and Health Care Expansion Fund established by [§ 31-3514.02]; except, that all revenue above the amount certified in the approved Fiscal Year 2023 budget for Fiscal Year 2023 shall be deposited in [§ 7-1671.08b].

(8) The rate of tax shall be 8% of the gross receipts from the sale of or charges for soft drinks.

(b) Of the sales tax revenue received pursuant to this section, $1,070,000 annually shall be used to fund the Reimbursable Detail Subsidy Program in the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration.

(d)(1) For fiscal years ending before October 1, 2023, 5% of the sales tax revenue collected at the rate provided by the lead-in language of subsection (a) of this section that is not dedicated to legislatively proposed or existing tax increment financing districts or pledged to the benefit of holders of District bonds or notes existing on or before October 30, 2018, shall be dedicated to the Arts and Humanities Fund, established by § 39-205.01.

(2) For fiscal years beginning after September 30, 2023, and before October 1, 2027, there shall be dedicated to the Arts and Humanities Fund, from the sales tax revenue collected at the rate provided by the lead-in language of subsection (a) of this section, the lesser of:

(A) 5% of the sales tax revenue collected at the rate provided by the lead-in language of subsection (a) of this section that is not dedicated to legislatively proposed or existing tax increment financing districts or pledged to the benefit of holders of District bonds or notes existing on or before October 30, 2018; or

(B) An amount equal to 102% of the amount dedicated to the Arts and Humanities Fund in the prior fiscal year pursuant to this subsection.

(3) For fiscal years beginning after September 30, 2027, 5% of the sales tax revenue collected at the rate provided by the lead-in language of subsection (a) of this section that is not dedicated to legislatively proposed or existing tax increment financing districts or pledged to the benefit of holders of District bonds or notes existing on or before October 30, 2018, shall be dedicated to the Arts and Humanities Fund.

(May 27, 1949, 63 Stat. 115, ch. 146, title I, § 125; May 18, 1954, 68 Stat. 117, ch. 218, title XIII, § 1303; Mar. 2, 1962, 76 Stat. 10, Pub. L. 87-408, § 101(a); Sept. 30, 1966, 80 Stat. 856, Pub. L. 89-610, title III, § 301(a); Aug. 2, 1968, 82 Stat. 614, Pub. L. 90-450, title III, § 304; Oct. 31, 1969, 83 Stat. 170, Pub. L. 91-106, title I, § 104; Jan. 5, 1971, 84 Stat. 1932, Pub. L. 91-650, title II, § 201(a)(2); Aug. 29, 1972, 86 Stat. 643, Pub. L. 92-410, title III, § 301(a)(1), (2); Oct. 21, 1975, D.C. Law 1-23, title III, § 301(7), 22 DCR 2099; June 15, 1976, D.C. Law 1-70, title IV, § 408, 23 DCR 541; Mar. 6, 1979, D.C. Law 2-157, § 6, 25 DCR 6995; Sept. 13, 1980, D.C. Law 3-92, § 201(b), 27 DCR 3390; Sept. 26, 1984, D.C. Law 5-113, § 201(b), (c), 31 DCR 3974; July 25, 1989, D.C. Law 8-17, § 4(b), 36 DCR 4160; Sept. 10, 1992, D.C. Law 9-145, § 107(b), 39 DCR 4895; Sept. 30, 1993, D.C. Law 10-25, § 111(e), 40 DCR 5489; June 14, 1994, D.C. Law 10-128, § 104(b), 41 DCR 2096; Sept. 28, 1994, D.C. Law 10-188, § 302(a), 41 DCR 5333; May 16, 1995, D.C. Law 10-255, § 44, 41 DCR 5193; enacted, Apr. 9, 1997, D.C. Law 11-254, § 2, 44 DCR 1575; Aug. 12, 1998, D.C. Law 12-142, § 3(c), 45 DCR 4826; June 5, 2003, D.C. Law 14-307, § 902(a), 49 DCR 11664; May 12, 2006, D.C. Law 16-94, § 2(b), 53 DCR 1649; Mar. 3, 2010, D.C. Law 18-111, § 7241(f), 57 DCR 181; Sept. 24, 2010, D.C. Law 18-223, § 7132, 57 DCR 6242; Apr. 8, 2011, D.C. Law 18-364,§ 2(b), 58 DCR 976; Sept. 14, 2011, D.C. Law 19-21, §§ 7002(a)(2), 8032(b), 58 DCR 6226; May 1, 2013, D.C. Law 19-310, § 3(a), 60 DCR 3410; Dec. 24, 2013, D.C. Law 20-61, §§ 7243, 10006, 60 DCR 12472; Feb. 26, 2015, D.C. Law 20-155, § 7043(a), 61 DCR 9990; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, §§ 7043, 7052, 62 DCR 10905; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 7152, 64 DCR 7652; Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-168, § 6004(a)(2), 65 DCR 9388; Sept. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 23-16, §§ 2203(d)(1), 7062(b), 66 DCR 8621; Dec. 3, 2020, D.C. Law 23-149, § 7052, 67 DCR 10493; July 12, 2022, D.C. Law 24-147, § 154(e)(2), 69 DCR 3386; Sept. 21, 2022, D.C. Law 24-167, § 5073, 69 DCR 9223; Mar. 22, 2023, D.C. Law 24-332, § 7(c), 70 DCR 1582; Sept. 6, 2023, D.C. Law 25-50, §§ 7024(a), 7062, 70 DCR 10366.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 47-2002.

1973 Ed., § 47-2602.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 9-1111.15, § 34-1803.02, § 38-821.02, § 39-205.01, § 47-2002.01, § 47-2002.02, § 47-2002.03, § 47-2002.05, § 47-2002.06, § 47-2002.07, § 47-2205, § 47-2402, § 47-2402.01, § 47-4603, § 47-4605, § 47-4607, § 47-4608, § 47-4622, § 47-4634, and § 50-2201.03.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 14-307, in par. (3A), substituted “9%” for “8%”.

D.C. Law 16-94, in par. (3A), substituted a semicolon for “; and”; in par. (4), substituted “; and” for a period; and added par. (5).

D.C. Law 18-111, in the introductory language, substituted “5.75%, except for the period beginning October 1, 2009, and ending September 30, 2012, the rate shall be 6%,” for “5.75%, except for the period beginning June 1, 1994, and ending September 30, 1994, the rate shall be 7%,”; added pars. (4A) and (6); and rewrote par. (5).

D.C. Law 18-223 deleted “and” from the end of par. (5); substituted “; and” for a period at the end of par. (6); and added par. (7).

D.C. Law 18-364 designated the existing text of par. (2) as par. (2)(A); and added par. (2)(B).

D.C. Law 19-21 designated the existing text as subsec. (a); in the lead-in language of subsec. (a), substituted “6%” for “5.75%, except for the period beginning October 1, 2009, and ending September 30, 2012, the rate shall be 6%”; in subsec. (a)(1), substituted “18%” for “12%”; in subsec. (a)(2)(B), substituted “net charges and additional charges received by the room remarketer” for “net sale or net charges received from the transient by the room remarketer”; in subsec. (a)(3A), substituted “10%” for “9%”; and added subsec. (b).

The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-310 substituted “$1,170,000” for “$460,000” in (b).

The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 20-61 substituted “Beginnning [sic] on October 1, 2013, the rate of such tax shall be 5.75%” for “The rate of such tax shall be 6%” in (a); and added (c).

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-155 repealed (c),

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 21-36 added “provided, that after October 1, 2017, the rate of tax shall be 22%” in (a)(1); and repealed (a)(5) and (a)(6).

Cross References

Compensating-use tax, payment of tax by purchaser, see § 47-2205.

National capital region transportation, revenues deposited in general fund and allocated to metrorail/metrobus account, see § 9-1111.15.

National capital revitalization corporation, determination, publication, collection and deposit of tax increment revenues, see § 2-1219.22.

National capital revitalization corporation, “sales and use tax increment revenues” defined, see § 2-1219.01.

Real property assessment and tax, classes of property, disputed occupancy of improved real property, see § 47-813.

Tax rates, records and surplus funds, authority of Council to change certain tax rates, see § 47-504.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see §§ 902(a) and 903 of Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Support Amendment Emergency Act of 2002 (D.C. Act 14-544, December 4, 2002, 49 DCR 11700).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see §§ 902(a) and 903 of the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Support Amendment Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-27, February 24, 2003, 50 DCR 2151).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see §§ 902(a) and 903 of Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Support Amendment Second Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-103, June 20, 2003, 50 DCR 5499).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 7111(e) of Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-187, August 26, 2009, 56 DCR 7374).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 7241(f) of Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Support Second Emergency Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-207, October 15, 2009, 56 DCR 8234).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 7241(f) of Fiscal Year Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-260, January 4, 2010, 57 DCR 345).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 7132 of Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-463, July 2, 2010, 57 DCR 6542).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 7002(a)(2) of Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-93, June 29, 2011, 58 DCR 5599).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 8002 of Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-93, June 29, 2011, 58 DCR 5599).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 8013 of Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-93, June 29, 2011, 58 DCR 5599).

For temporary amendment of (b), see § 3(a) of the Omnibus Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Emergency Amendment Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-597, January 14, 2013, 60 DCR 1001).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(a) of the Omnibus Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-52, April 22, 2013, 60 DCR 6372, 20 DCSTAT 1388).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 7243 and 10006 of the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-130, July 30, 2013, 60 DCR 11384, 20 DCSTAT 1827).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 7243 and 10006 of the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-204, October 17, 2013, 60 DCR 15341, 20 DCSTAT 2311).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7053(a) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-377, July 14, 2014, 61 DCR 7598, 20 STAT 3696).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 7012(d-1) and 7043(a) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-449, October 10, 2014, 61 DCR 10915, 20 STAT 4188).

For temporary (90 days) addition of D.C. Law 20-155, § 7012(d-1), and amendment of this section, see § 2(l)(3) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Clarification Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-461, November 6, 2014, 61 DCR 11784, 20 STAT 4368).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 7012(d-1) and 7043(a) of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Second Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-566, January 9, 2015, 62 DCR 884, 21 STAT 541).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 7016(s), 7022 and 7023 of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).

Short Title

Short title: Section 7131 of D.C. Law 18-223 provided that subtitle N of title VII of the act may be cited as the “Health Care Expansion Act of 2010”.

Short title: Section 8041 of D.C. Law 19-21 provided that subtitle E of title VIII of the act may be cited as “Parking Tax Enhancement Act of 2011”.

Section 10001 of D.C. Law 20-61 provided that Title X of the act may be cited as the “Revised Revenue Estimate Adjustment Allocation Act of 2013”.

Section 7241 of D.C. Law 20-61 provided that Subtitle X of Title VII of the act may be cited as the “Dedicated Funding for the Commission on Arts and Humanities Amendment Act of 2013”.

Effective Dates

For effective date of § 201 of D.C. Law 5-113, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 47-2001.

Editor's Notes

Section 8043 of D.C. Law 19-21 provided: “Sec. 8043. This subtitle shall apply as of July 1, 2011; provided, that this subtitle shall apply as of October 1, 2011, if, for fiscal year 2011, the Chief Financial Officer certifies, in his June 2011 Revenue Estimate, that annual revenue will exceed the annual revenue estimate incorporated in the approved financial plan and budget for fiscal year 2011 by an amount sufficient to offset the loss of revenue proceeding from the delay of the applicability date from July 1, 2011 to October 1, 2011.”

Section 8124 of D.C. Law 19-21 provided: “Sec. 8124. This subtitle shall apply as of July 1, 2011.”

Expiration of §§ 301, 302 and 303 of D.C. Law 10-188: See Historical and Statutory Notes following § 47-2002.02.

Mayor authorized to issue rules: See second paragraph of note to § 47-2601.

Audit of accounts and operation of Authority: See Historical and Statutory Notes following § 47-2002.02.

Expiration of §§ 301, 302 and 303 of D.C. Law 10-188: Section 2(l)(1) of D.C. Law 12-142 provided that § 306(a) of D.C. Law 10-188, providing for the expiration of that act, is repealed. Section 2(l)(2) of D.C. Law 12-142 provided that the subsection shall apply as of February 27, 1997.

Section 903 of D.C. Law 14-307 provided: “Sec. 903. Applicability. Section 902 shall apply as of January 1, 2003.”

Section 4 of D.C. Law 16-94 provided that § 2 shall apply as of April 1, 2006.

Applicability of D.C. Law 20-61: Section 11001 of D.C. Law 20-61 provided that, except as otherwise provided, the act shall apply as of October 1, 2013.

Applicability of D.C. Law 21-36: Section 7053 of D.C. Law 21-36 provided that § 7052 of the act shall not apply if Fiscal Year 2015 revenues in the June 2015 quarterly revenue estimate issued by the Chief Financial Officer are sufficient to implement fully § 5-525.01(c).