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Food-related taxes are rising in popularity, though they hurt restaurants and customers—and may even fail as a revenue-raising tool.
Last month, as part of its 2027 budget, the D.C. Council approved a 20-cent fee on carrier-for-hire delivery services. While the fee applies to the delivery of a broad array of household goods, it has been primarily billed as a tax on food delivery, which provides a lucrative source of potential revenue for the District.
D.C.'s new delivery tax is merely the latest example of governments targeting food with stealth tax increases in an effort to enhance government coffers. While the strategy may be tempting as a revenue grab, the losers are everyday Americans who are simply looking for a politician that actually can deliver on an affordability agenda.
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Jarrett Dieterle is a legal policy fellow at Manhattan Institute, where his work focuses on labor law, administrative law, and urban policy.