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PR26-0380 • 2025

D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025

D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025

Taxes
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Mendelson
Last action
2025-11-21
Official status
Approved
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about immediate adjustments to tax expenditures or long-term plans, only that modifications need to be adopted immediately and more consequential changes need time to prepare.

Emergency Resolution to Adjust D.C. Taxes

This emergency resolution allows the District of Columbia to change its tax laws to avoid automatically following certain federal tax changes that could reduce local revenue.

What This Bill Does

  • Declares an emergency situation for adjusting D.C.'s tax code to prevent automatic alignment with recent federal tax law changes.
  • Allows D.C. to decouple from specific federal tax provisions in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' (OBBBA) that could decrease local revenue by $94.4 million in 2025 and more over five years.
  • Gives the D.C. Council time to review and decide on which federal tax changes should be adopted locally, ensuring proper implementation.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The District of Columbia government
  • Taxpayers in D.C.
  • Businesses operating in D.C.

Terms To Know

Rolling conformity jurisdiction
A system where local tax laws automatically follow federal tax law changes unless specified otherwise.
Decoupling
The process of separating local tax rules from federal tax rules to avoid automatic alignment.

Limits and Unknowns

  • It is unclear which specific federal tax provisions will be decoupled and how this will affect D.C. taxpayers.
  • The resolution does not specify the exact changes to D.C.'s tax code, leaving details for future legislation.

Bill History

  1. 2025-11-21 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Resolution R26-0248, Effective from Nov 04, 2025 Published in DC Register Vol 72 and Page 012943

  2. 2025-11-04 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Retained by the Council

  3. 2025-11-04 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Legislative Meeting

  4. 2025-11-04 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Approved with Resolution Number R26-0248

  5. 2025-11-03 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    PR26-0380 Introduced by Chairman Mendelson at Office of the Secretary

Official Summary Text

D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
ENROLLED ORIGINAL

1

A RESOLUTION

26-248

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

November 4, 2025

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend certain provisions of
Chapter 18 of Title 47 of the District of Columbia Official Code so that they no longer
conform to corresponding provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and to make
other technical and conforming changes.

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision
Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025”.

Sec. (a) On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law An Act To provide for
reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14, approved July 4, 2025 (Pub. L. No. 119-21;
139 Stat. 72), also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (“OBBBA”). The OBBBA
contains approximately 84 tax-related provisions. Because the District is a rolling conformity
jurisdiction (i.e., the District’s tax code is coupled with the federal tax code unless otherwise
specified in law), these tax provisions will automatically go into effect unless the Council takes
action.
(b) It is necessary to decouple the District’s tax code from these (and other) tax
provisions in the OBBBA on an emergency basis for 3 reasons:
(1) According to estimates from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, tax
provisions in the OBBBA will reduce District revenues by $94.4 million in Fiscal Year 2025,
and $657.8 million from Fiscal Year 2025 through Fiscal Year 2029. With a protracted federal
government shutdown, a projected revenue decline of nearly 2% from Fiscal Year 2025 to Fiscal
Year 2026, and slow revenue growth projected thereafter, the District must be very thoughtful
about how our revenues are expended;
(2) The Council has not had adequate time to determine what, if any, tax
provisions in the OBBBA should be adopted by the District. Moving this legislation on an
emergency basis will give the Council more time to thoughtfully analyze and consider the
various tax provisions of the OBBBA; and
(3) Several of these tax provisions, such as no tax on overtime and no tax on tips,
are retroactive to tax year 2025 or earlier. The Office of Tax and Revenue needs sufficient time
to develop forms, guidance, etc., to effectuate any decoupling of these provisions.
ENROLLED ORIGINAL

2

(c) The revenue restored by decoupling, when coupled with September 2025 revenue
estimates from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, also presents the Council with an
opportunity to revisit decisions about tax expenditures. Modifications to tax expenditures for tax
year 2025 need to be adopted immediately to ensure that the Office of Tax and Revenue has
sufficient time to prepare for the upcoming filing season. More consequential changes to take
effect in tax year 2026—such as the reestablishment of a child tax credit—need to be established
in law for a longer period of time to ensure that the Office of the Chief Financial Officer has time
to prepare new tax forms and coordinate with tax preparation vendors to ensure the smooth
integration of changes into direct filing systems.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the
D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Emergency Amendment Act of 2025
be adopted after a single reading.

Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.