District of Columbia Adds New Services to Taxable Retail Sales

The District of Columbia has enacted its Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2014, which updates the definition of “retail sales” to include new services, among other items, applicable October 1, 2014. Per the legislation, which was enacted when the District’s Council overrode the Mayor’s earlier veto, “retail sales” now include the following services:

• sales by the gallon of bottled water by a bottled water service to be dispensed from a water cooler or similar dispenser;
• sales of, or charges for, storing household goods through renting or leasing space for self-storage, including rooms, compartments, lockers, containers, or outdoor space, except general merchandise warehousing and storage and coin-operated lockers;
• sales of, or charges for, carpet and upholstery cleaning, including the cleaning or dyeing of used rugs, carpets, or upholstery, or for rug repair;
• sales of, or charges for, health club services or a tanning studio;
• sales of, or charges for, car washing, including cleaning, washing, waxing, polishing, or detailing an automotive vehicle, except for coin-operated, self-service car washes; or
• sales of, or charges for, the service of a bowling alley or a billiard parlor.

(D.C.B. 20-849, Laws 2014, applicable as noted)