If your nonprofit is described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and has offices outside of the District of Columbia, your organization may be entitled to a refund of any hotel and sales taxes (plus interest) it paid for meetings or events held in the District since 2016. The due date for claims is June 6, 2025. Please visit the class action website at https://www.dctaxrefundclassaction.com/ for more information on submitting proof of a claim.
In a ruling in American Philosophical Association v. District of Columbia, 2019 CVT 000003, on February 13, 2024, the Superior Court for the District of Columbia ruled in a class action suit that the District violated the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause by providing a hotel and sales tax exemption to "semipublic institutions" with offices in the District but not to semipublic institutions without offices in the District. The term "semipublic institution" is inclusive of section 501(c)(3) organizations but more broadly describes any corporation, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized exclusively for religious, scientific, charitable, or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. The ruling provides an avenue for nonprofits with offices outside the District to obtain a refund of hotel and sales taxes for events held in the District since December 12, 2016.
Your nonprofit may be eligible for a refund if it:
- Is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Code or is otherwise a "semipublic institution";
- Held one or more events in DC at one of the following hotels: The Washington Hilton, the Marriott Marquis, the Renaissance Washington, the Omni Shoreham Hotel, the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Mayflower Hotel, the Hyatt Regency, the JW Marriot, the Capital Hilton, the Willard Intercontinental, the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, the Fairmont, the Mandarin Oriental, the Watergate Hotel, the Hilton D.C. National Mall Hotel, the Marriott Georgetown, the Washington Marriott at Metro Center, and the Westin Washington City Center;
- Held such event or events between 2016 and the present; and
- Paid D.C. sales or hotel occupancy taxes related to that event or those events.
Claims may be submitted via https://www.dctaxrefundclassaction.com/ or using the form available at www.dctaxrefundclassaction.com/pdf/DC_Hotel_Claim_Form_FINAL.pdf. Claims must be submitted online or postmarked by June 6, 2025.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
