Washington DC delays its 7% sales tax rate to 1 October 2027
This page records one dated change. For the rules in United States as they stand today, see the United States guide →
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Tax
- Sales Tax
- Change type
- Rate change
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- Action required
- Announced
- 13 August 2026
- Effective
- 13 August 2026
- Authority
- Council of the District of Columbia — DC Law Library
- Systems
- Tax engine, POS, E-commerce
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Retailers making taxable sales in the District of Columbia.
Keep the DC general sales tax rate at 6.0% on 1 October 2026; schedule 7.0% for 1 October 2027.
Tax enginePOSE-commerce
The District of Columbia's Sales Tax Increase Delay Emergency Amendment Act of 2026, Title VII, Subtitle A of D.C. Act 26-416 (Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2026, effective 13 August 2026), amends D.C. Code §§ 47-2002(a) and 47-2202(a) so the general sales and use tax rate is 6.0% before 1 October 2027 and 7.0% from 1 October 2027. The increase to 7.0% previously set for 1 October 2026 therefore does not take effect on that date. As an emergency act it lasts up to 90 days; the permanent Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act was still in congressional review at capture. This supersedes us-dc-sales-tax-7-percent (2026-W31), which reported the 7.0% rate from 1 October 2026.
What changed in detail
The 7.0% general sales and use tax rate previously reported for 1 October 2026 does not take effect on that date. The Sales Tax Increase Delay Emergency Amendment Act of 2026 — Title VII, Subtitle A of D.C. Act 26-416 (the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2026, effective 13 August 2026) — amends D.C. Code §§ 47-2002(a) and 47-2202(a) so the general sales and use tax rate is 6.0% before 1 October 2027 and 7.0% from 1 October 2027. This corrects the earlier report, which stated the rate would rise to 7.0% on 1 October 2026 under the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Act of 2025 — that increase is now delayed a full year.
As an emergency act, D.C. Act 26-416 lasts up to 90 days under DC’s emergency-legislation rules. At the time this decision was captured, the permanent Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act — which would need to carry the same delay forward — was still in congressional review.
What it means
Systems configured for 7.0% from 1 October 2026 are now wrong and need to hold at 6.0% for another year — this is the second rate-change date DC has moved on this line (an earlier scheduled 6.5% interim step from October 2025 was also repealed), so a rate table for DC sales tax is worth re-checking against the primary source rather than trusting the last update. Because this rests on an emergency act with a limited shelf life, the 1 October 2027 date is not yet as durable as an ordinary enacted rate change — it depends on the permanent FY2027 budget act carrying the same delay through congressional review.
Proof
"shall be 6.0% before October 1, 2027, and 7.0% beginning on October 1, 2027,"
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗Sources
What this replaces
- Washington DC goes to 7% sales tax on 1 October 2026 effective 1 October 2026