Washington, D.C. residents pay a graduated income tax ranging from 4% to 10.75%, a general sales tax of 6% (rising to 7% in October 2026), and a residential property tax of $0.85 per $100 of assessed value. The exact amount depends on your income, what you buy, and where you live.
In brief
Washington, D.C. residents pay a graduated income tax ranging from 4% to 10.75%, a general sales tax of 6% (set to rise to 7% in October 2026), and a residential property tax of $0.85 per $100 of assessed value. The exact amount you owe depends on your income, what you buy, and whether you own property in the District.
Income tax: seven brackets, top rate of 10.75%
DC's income tax has seven brackets with rates of 4%, 6%, 6.5%, 8.5%, 9.25%, 9.75%, and 10.75%. The brackets have not changed since the 2022 tax year. The bottom rate - 4% - applies to your first $10,000 of taxable income. After that, each slice gets taxed progressively higher.
The top rate jumped to 10.75% in 2022, up from 8.95%, and the number of brackets grew from six to seven that same year. The higher rates only kick in for families reporting incomes above $250,000.
The standard deduction for 2025 is $15,000 for single filers. That translates to $15,000 of tax-free income for single DC taxpayers, and $30,000 for those filing jointly.
One significant credit: for tax year 2025, DC's Earned Income Tax Credit equals 100% of the federal EITC amount - a meaningful boost for working families with moderate incomes.
Social Security retirement and Railroad Retirement benefits are tax-exempt in Washington, D.C. Military retirement pay, however, is fully taxable.
The DC Office of Tax and Revenue administers all individual income taxes. File online at otr.cfo.dc.gov. The deadline to submit Tax Year 2024 returns or an extension is April 15, 2025.
Sales tax: 6% general rate, with big exceptions
DC's general sales tax rate remains 6.0% through September 30, 2026, applying to tangible personal property, digital goods, and taxable services. The general rate will increase to 7.0% beginning October 1, 2026.
Several categories carry higher rates, and they matter to daily life in the city:
Food or drink served or prepared for immediate consumption - at restaurants, cafeterias, hotel restaurants, carry-out shops, and caterers - is taxed at 10%.
Alcohol purchased for off-premises consumption is subject to a 10.25% sales tax.
The total sales tax rate on hotel rooms and transient accommodations is 15.95%, extended through September 30, 2027.
Parking in commercial lots is taxed at 18%.
Tickets to baseball games or baseball-related events at Nationals Park, and tickets to events at Capital One Arena, are taxed at 10.25%.
Groceries for home cooking are exempt. Medicines and residential utilities are also tax-free. Unlike in many states, no local jurisdictions within DC can pile on additional sales taxes, so the rate you see is the rate you pay everywhere in the District.
Property tax: low rate, but high home values
As of 2025, the residential property tax rate in Washington, DC, is $0.85 per $100 of assessed value. That sounds modest. On a $600,000 home, the gross bill before any deductions would be $5,100 per year. But the effective rate for most owner-occupants is lower, once credits are applied.
Due to significant tax reduction programs, owner-occupied properties enjoyed an effective tax rate of $0.68 per $100 of assessed value in tax year 2024.
The Homestead Deduction is available for homeowners living in a principal residence of no more than five units, and it reduces assessed value by $91,950 in 2026. The Senior Citizen or Disabled Property Owner Tax Relief program reduces the property tax bill by 50% for eligible homeowners who are at least 65 years old or disabled.
Homes valued above $2.5 million face a higher rate on the portion above that threshold. Single-family homes and row houses are taxed at $0.85 per $100 on the first $2.5 million in assessed value, and $1.00 on assessed value above $2.5 million. Georgetown has the most properties assessed above $2.5 million - 515 of them, or 20% of its total - while Massachusetts Avenue Heights has the highest share, with 50.7% of all properties in that neighborhood above the threshold.
Commercial properties are taxed at a steeper rate. Even the lowest-value commercial properties (those under $5 million) are taxed at $1.65 per $100 of taxable assessed value - roughly twice the residential rate.
Estate tax
For 2025, DC estates valued over $4,873,200 are subject to the city's estate tax, with rates ranging from 11.2% to 16%. That threshold is well below the federal exemption, which makes DC's estate tax one of the more aggressive in the country for large estates.
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Last updated: May 22, 2026
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Last updated: May 22, 2026
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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.
