Yes, Washington, D.C. levies a personal property tax, but only on tangible property used in a trade or business, not on personal vehicles or household goods. The rate is $3.40 per $100 of assessed value, applied only to the portion of your business property's value that exceeds $225,000.
In brief
Yes, Washington, D.C. levies a personal property tax, but only on tangible property used in a trade or business, not on personal vehicles or household goods. The rate is $3.40 per $100 of assessed value, applied only to the portion of your business property's value that exceeds $225,000. If your total taxable business property is worth $225,000 or less, you owe nothing. But you still have to file.
What DC's personal property tax actually covers
The tax is levied on all tangible property, except inventories, used in a trade or business. Think restaurant equipment, office furniture, machinery, computer servers, fixtures, and unregistered vehicles or trailers. Personal property includes machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures, and unregistered motor vehicles and trailers.
What it does not cover: your car, your couch, your laptop at home. Vehicles registered in DC are exempt. DC has never adopted the kind of annual vehicle property tax that Virginia imposes on its residents.
The rate and the exemption threshold
Each year the District levies a tax against every person on the tangible personal property owned or held in trust in that person's trade or business in the District. The rate is $3.40 for each $100 of value of the taxable personal property, in excess of $225,000 in value.
Personal property tax has a flat rate of 3.4% over $225,000. There is no tax due if the value of your personal property is $225,000 or less; however, you must still file the return.
One quirk: DC values your assets using its own straight-line depreciation schedules, not federal ones. For DC's business personal property tax, you report the remaining cost on July 1, what each asset cost, less straight-line depreciation at DC's own rates. You may not use accelerated methods or federal recovery lives, so an asset you wrote off on your federal return can still have a DC value. There's also a floor: you report each asset at no less than 25% of its original cost, or 10% for office computers and peripherals, which DC calls qualified technological equipment.
Who must file, and when
Individuals, corporations, partnerships, executors, administrators, guardians, receivers, and trustees that own or hold personal property in trust in the District of Columbia must file a DC personal property tax return.
The form is FP-31. Filing frequency is annual. The due date is July 31, covering a tax year beginning July 1 through June 30. All personal property tax returns must be filed electronically via MyTax.DC.gov.
The timeline is unusual. Unlike many taxes paid in arrears, this return is filed in advance. The FP-31 is due July 31 each year, and the filing covers the upcoming tax year. The filing due on July 31, 2025, is actually the 2026 Personal Property Tax Return.
Need more time? You request an extension on Form FP-129A before August 1 and pay the tax with the request. DC can grant up to three months, to October 31. Miss the deadline with tax due and the Office of Tax and Revenue charges 5% a month on the unpaid tax, up to 25%.
Who gets an exemption
Entities exempted from this tax include qualified supermarkets, non-profits, and registered motor vehicles and trailers. Wireless telecom companies and certain clean energy systems have also been carved out by legislation over the years. If you close your business, mark your last FP-31 as a final return and OTR will cancel the filing requirement.
How DC compares to Virginia and Maryland
This is the question most DMV residents actually want answered. DC sits in an interesting middle ground.
Virginia is the one that really stings for vehicle owners. Virginia residents often get blindsided by a second levy: an annual personal property tax on vehicles, which Fairfax County sets at $4.57 per $100 of assessed value, about $900 a year on a $30,000 car after state relief. Virginia has a personal property tax on vehicles, trailers, RVs, and boats. In Arlington, the rate is now $5.00 per $100 of assessed value.
Maryland has no annual vehicle property tax. The one-time 6.5% titling excise and a flat two-year registration are the whole bill, nothing value-based recurs. Maryland does, like DC, tax business personal property, with that compliance process flowing through the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.
DC registered vehicle owners pay a one-time excise tax when a vehicle is titled. DC collects a separate motor vehicle excise tax at the issuance of new certificates of title. Vehicles up to 3,499 pounds face a rate of up to 9%. Vehicles from 3,500 to 4,999 pounds face a rate of up to 10%. Vehicles weighing more than that are subject to a rate of up to 11%. After that, there is no annual car tax bill in the mail.
Bottom line for DC businesses
If you run a business in the District with more than $225,000 worth of equipment, furniture, and other tangible assets, you owe DC personal property tax at $3.40 per $100 on the amount above that threshold. File Form FP-31 at MyTax.DC.gov by July 31 each year. The DC Office of Tax and Revenue's official personal property tax page is at otr.cfo.dc.gov. A DC restaurant with $332,000 in taxable equipment, for example, would owe tax on $107,000 above the exemption, coming to $3,638 for the year.
WDCM Editorial is the byline on news and feature stories produced through Washington DC Magazine's editorial process — AI-assisted research, reviewed and approved by Editor-in-Chief Rod Wright.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
