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Food Tax News

Fairfax Co. board approves 4% meals tax increase in 2026 budget despite opposition

May 13, 2025

Diners in Fairfax County will soon be paying more at the register. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, a 4% meals tax will take effect, bringing the total tax on prepared food and beverages to 10% when combined with the state’s existing 6% sales tax.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the tax as part of its final Fiscal Year 2026 budget markup. The measure passed 9-1, despite residents previously rejecting a meals tax in two separate referendums.

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Meals tax added in the budget markup

May 9, 2025

Starting Jan. 1, 2026, Fairfax County residents must open their wallets wider when paying restaurant checks and purchasing prepared foods at local grocery stores. During the FY 2026 Budget markup session, the Board of Supervisors implemented a 4% meals tax, despite residents voting against it in two separate referendums. Combined with the 6% state sales tax, this will add an extra 10% to the bill for those dining out.

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‘Everything is just going up': Fairfax County approves 4% food tax

May 8, 2025

Your morning coffee and takeout lunch will cost more in Fairfax County, where county supervisors have approved adding a 4% food and beverage tax to next year’s budget. Some residents said 4% didn’t seem like much. “They have to raise rates when they have to,” one resident said. “It’s Chick-fil-A – I’ll do anything,” one man joked.

But others said every little increase adds up. “I feel like everything is just going up,” another resident said. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 for the tax. Pat Herrity, the lone Republican on the board, was the only supervisor to vote no.

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Real estate tax cut and meals tax added as Fairfax County reveals budget

May 6, 2025

Despite a challenging fiscal year, Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors approved its latest budget with a decisive 9–1 vote.

"Today was less difficult because we had a very strong 9 to 1 vote on our board for the package I brought forward," said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, noting broad support for the proposal that restored key services while avoiding a real estate tax rate increase.

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Fairfax County approves 4% meals tax to balance budget

May 6, 2025

Fairfax County is set to implement a 4% meals tax, a move approved by supervisors in a 9-1 vote on Tuesday as part of its strategy to avoid budget hurdles.

The new tax, expected to generate approximately $67 million in annual revenue, allows the county to avoid a proposed 1.5-cent real estate tax hike and instead offer a slight rate reduction. Once it’s formally adopted next week, the new tax is expected to take effect in January 2026.

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Fairfax board to approve meals tax, real estate rate cut with FY 2026 budget

May 6, 2025

A lower real estate tax rate, smaller transfer than school leaders sought and imposition of a meals tax are all part of Fairfax County’s $5.7 billion fiscal year 2026 budget slated for formal adoption next week.

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Restaurateurs push back against Fairfax meals tax proposal

April 24, 2025

Opponents outnumbered supporters as the public weighed in Tuesday (April 22) on the imposition of a countywide meals tax.

Adding a meals tax on top of the sales tax for restaurant meals and prepared foods would “really be a burden” both to the industry and “economically exhausted consumers,” Jim Rafferty of the Glory Days Grill restaurant chain told Fairfax County supervisors during a public hearing.

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Board of Supervisors to hold a hearing on a proposed meals tax

March 19, 2025

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors agreed on March 18 to authorize a public hearing on a meals tax. The hearing, scheduled for April 22, would consider an amendment to the Fairfax County Code to impose a food and beverage tax of up to 4 percent on meals sold by restaurants and caterers.

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Some Northern Virginia leaders say local economy is too dependent on federal government

March 14, 2025

As cuts are made at federal agencies, it’s essential that Northern Virginia considers alternative ways to draw business outside the scope of the federal government, Fairfax County leaders said during an Economic Initiatives Committee meeting this week.

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Fairfax Co. leaders weigh possible plans for meals tax to offset $300 million budget shortfall

March 11, 2025

Facing a nearly $300 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, Fairfax County leaders are mulling over the decision to move forward with plans to adopt a meals tax. They’re still working on the details, but Virginia law allows jurisdictions to adopt a meals tax of up to 6%. The meals tax would apply to every meal sold from the county’s restaurants.

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‘I Don’t Like This Budget’ Palchik Tells Town Hall Attendees

March 11, 2025

Supervisor Dalia Palchik didn’t mince words when asked about the Fairfax County Fiscal Year 2026 Budget proposal during Monday night’s Providence District Budget Town Hall meeting.

“I don't like this budget,” she told the 90 or so people in attendance at the Jim Scott Community Center in Fairfax. "I don't know what else to tell you. I'm not sure anyone in this room likes this budget. It's not a great budget. It's not what we hoped for.”

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Fairfax County considers controversial food tax amid $300 million budget shortfall

March 11, 2025

Your breakfast, lunch, and dinner bill may go up in Fairfax County if the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors moves forward with implementing a food tax which many people in the restaurant industry oppose.

“This would be a permanent tax on food which I think is the last thing you want to tax,” Gary Cohen, with Glory Days Grill, told 7News.

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County discusses revenue diversification, adding taxes

September 27, 2024

On Sept. 17, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors met with County Executive Bryan Hill and the Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget to discuss revenue diversification for the county.

Despite voters rejecting the idea in 1992 and 2016, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ most notable consideration is a countywide meals tax — but now, the new tax wouldn’t need to appear on a ballot. A Virginia state law passed in 2020 allowed jurisdictions to impose meal taxes without voter approval.

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Fairfax County board considers proposed food tax despite $240 million surplus

September 25, 2024

If Fairfax County has a $240 million surplus, why is Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay and the board of supervisors considering implementing a food tax in the county? It’s a question several people asked this week as McKay and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decided to spend the county’s multi-million surplus on projects instead of giving tax relief to families.

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Fairfax County considers meals tax

September 17, 2024

Restaurant workers demonstrated outside the Fairfax County, Virginia, government center Tuesday in opposition to a meals tax being considered by the Board of Supervisors to increase county revenue. A meals tax would be assessed on all prepared foods – including drinks sold along with them – from restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, food carts and ready-to-eat grocery items.

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Fairfax County wants a new tax to pay for Chairman Jeff McKay’s $145,000 annual part-time salary and car

September 5, 2024

Fairfax County’s referenda to implement a meals tax, a fee imposed on the purchase of all prepared, ready-to-eat food and beverages, have failed on the ballots in 1992 (58% opposing) and 2016 (56% opposing). Beginning in 2020, the Virginia General Assembly, in all of its wisdom, allowed localities to pass such a tax without putting a referendum on the ballot directly to the voters.

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Fairfax County restaurants ask customers to tell their supervisors to vote no on food tax

August 26, 2024

Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are considering implementing a food tax. The board of supervisors is expected to discuss the food tax at their next meetings in September.

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Contentious meals tax worries county’s small business owners

August 23, 2024

Small businesses, restaurant industry workers, and restaurant-goers are reeling at the possibility of a meals tax, which will be presented before the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee at its Sept. 17 meeting. Inflation and an increased real estate tax passed earlier this year already have residents feeling the squeeze. This new proposal was a bridge too far for some of its prominent opponents.

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