Starting today, D.C.’s 10% sales taxA sales tax is levied on retail sales of goods and services and, ideally, should apply to all final consumption with few exemptions. Many governments exempt goods like groceries; base broadening, such as including groceries, could keep rates lower. A sales tax should exempt business-to-business transactions which, when taxed, cause tax pyramiding. on prepared food applies to food trucks. Previously, food truck vendors were exempt from the sales taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. , and instead paid a $1,500 flat fee (now they pay the greater of the two). The D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis estimates the tax change to raise about $1.2 million annually.
For more discussion of taxing food truck sales, see:
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/food-truck-sales-taxes-dc
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