The People’s Tax Plan
All In for DC’s Tax Policy Platform
Taxes support thriving communities where people want to live. They allow for high-quality education for DC’s children, well-functioning public transportation for workers and businesses, and much more. By building a tax code for justice—a tax code for the people—we can end poverty in the District and guarantee economic security, build an inclusive economy rooted in community care, achieve housing justice, and end homelessness.
DC’s current tax system reflects a history of racist policies and practices that privilege high-income and wealthy households—who are predominantly white—and allow them to build more wealth, increase the value of existing assets, and pass that wealth to future generations. Often these privileges have come at the expense of low and moderate income Black and brown communities, and they make DC’s extreme inequality worse. Raising revenue through taxation of the wealthiest would help correct the racist harm in the tax system while also affording DC additional resources to invest in our communities.
All In for DC, a campaign powered by the Just Recovery DC coalition, is fighting for a Tax System for Justice. The tax policy proposals below lay out some of the many options DC lawmakers have at their disposal to ensure an equitable and just future for DC.
Tax Wealth
Raise the tax rate on capital gains—profit from selling assets like stocks—that overwhelmingly flow to the top 1 percent.
End special treatment of capital gains by repealing the “stepped-up basis,” which allows wealthy people to pass on assets to their heirs tax-free.
Increase taxes on homes valued at over $1.5 million, instead of taxing them at the same rate as lower value homes.
Tax more inherited wealth by lowering the amount exempted from the DC estate tax from $4.25 million to $3 million.
Tax land in addition to the property on the land. Property on the most valuable land in DC, whether residential or commercial, is largely owned by affluent, white people.
Increase Taxes on High Incomes
Raise tax rates on income above $500,000, and especially rates for incomes over $1 million.
Limit income tax breaks—or itemized deductions—that mostly benefit high income and white taxpayers.
Make Business Taxes Fair
Restructure DC’s business taxes by enacting a Business Activity Tax so that corporations operating in the District and benefitting from our economy and services, but currently not paying taxes to DC, contribute to our shared resources.
Reject cuts to commercial property tax proposed by the Tax Revision Commission, which would cost the District millions of dollars annually without helping small businesses afford rent or filling empty office buildings.
Exempt small businesses from filing the personal property tax returns on business equipment.
Help Low and Moderate Income Households Make Ends Meet
Create a local child tax credit of at least $1,000 per child to help end child poverty in the District, especially among Black children, who are the vast majority of children living in poverty in DC.
Help the District’s lowest income workers by expanding eligibility to the DC Earned Income Tax Credit to young workers, single adults, and seniors; and increasing the credit amount.
Expand and automate the property tax credit (known as Schedule H) for low- and moderate-income homeowners and renters so they can better afford to stay in DC.
Allow retroactive filing for the homestead deduction, so households can get the credit up to three years after the fact.
