A meal consists of food and beverages, including alcoholic beverages, sold for the purposes of consumption in or from a food establishment, whether prepared or consumed in the food establishment or not. A meal does not include grocery items, snack foods, or beverages sold alone and not as part of a meal.

The Food and Beverage Tax is a tax on the total cost of food and beverages sold as meals by any restaurants, caterers, or other designated establishments within Fairfax County.

The Food and Beverage rate is 4%.

Establishments required to collect/remit the Food and Beverage Tax include, but are not limited to restaurants, caterers, lunchrooms, cafeterias, coffee shops, bars and breweries, taverns, delicatessens, grocery stores, convenience stores, bakeries, public or private clubs, ice cream shops, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and food trucks.

No. If your business is in the Town of Clifton, Herndon, or Vienna, or in the Cities of Fairfax, or Falls Church, you are not subject to the Fairfax County Food and Beverage Tax. These jurisdictions each administer and enforce their own separate meals tax.
 

The tax does not apply to grocery items, snack foods alone, beverages alone, nor alcoholic beverages sold in factory-sealed containers for off-premises consumption. If beverages and snacks are purchased with a meal, the tax applies.

Yes, there are exemptions. Please visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/business/foodandbeverage for a listing of exemptions. You may also refer to the Code of Virginia § 58.1-3833 and/or Fairfax County Ordinance § 4-31-15 for a complete list of exemptions.  

Home-based bakeries that do not provide seating for on-premises consumption and do not offer any catering services as defined by Fairfax County Code Section 4-31-2 are not subject to collecting this tax. Please note that the guidance provided is contingent upon specific circumstances, which may influence the distinction between taxable and non-taxable scenarios.
 

Any prepared food items and beverages sold together with the intent of immediate consumption—such as those that include utensils or serving containers—are subject to the Food and Beverage Tax. Generally, food and beverages served as part of a meal that are sold from food trucks are considered for immediate consumption and, therefore, taxable. Please send us an email to find out if you are subject to this tax.

Items that are SNAP eligible are generally excluded from Food and Beverage Tax except for sandwiches, salad bar items, pre-packaged single-serving salads (consisting primarily of a variety of vegetables), and non-factory-sealed beverages.

Discretionary gratuity is not taxable. Any mandatory gratuity charge added by the establishment to the cost of the meal is taxable if it is more than twenty percent (20%). In this instance, only the amount greater than 20% is taxable.

Businesses should begin collecting the Food and Beverage Tax on sales made on and after January 1, 2026. New establishments after January 1, 2026, should begin collecting this tax immediately upon opening the business.

The tax applies to food and beverages sold as a meal from a Fairfax County food establishment, even if the delivery address is not in the county.

Fairfax County considers the restaurant that prepared the food to be the seller responsible for collecting and remitting the Food and Beverage Tax. When a marketplace facilitator or third-party delivery service (such as UberEATS, DoorDash, or ezCater) collects payment from the customer, it should collect the county’s Food and Beverage Tax and remit it to the restaurant. The restaurant is ultimately responsible for remitting the full amount of the Food and Beverage Tax to the county with its monthly filing. This should include the tax collected directly from patrons and through delivery services.

Common Mistake to Avoid: 

Some restaurants assume that because a third-party delivery service collects the Food and Beverage Tax from customers, those sales do not need to be reported to Fairfax County. This is incorrect. Delivery services do not remit the tax directly to the County. The restaurant must report all taxable sales (including those made through delivery services) and remit the tax with its monthly filing.

Example Scenario:

A customer places a $100 food order through DoorDash. DoorDash charges the customer $100 plus $4 (4% Food and Beverage Tax) and collects the full $104. DoorDash then passes $100 (minus its fees) and the $4 tax to the restaurant. The restaurant is responsible for including the $100 sale and the $4 tax in its monthly Food and Beverage Tax filing. The restaurant must remit the $4 to Fairfax County by the 20th of the following month.

No. The ST-10 certificate only exempts purchases from Virginia’s state and local retail sales tax. It does not provide an exemption from the Fairfax County Food and Beverage Tax. Meals sold to nonprofit organizations, colleges, and other entities are generally taxable under the Food and Beverage Tax, even if the purchaser holds an ST-10 sales tax exemption certificate.
 

The Food and Beverage Tax should not be applied to any service charges or delivery charges which must be separately stated on invoice or receipt.

The tax return and payment are due on or before the 20th of the month following the reporting period. For all due dates, if the date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or county holiday, the due date is extended to the following business day. Filings and payments submitted after the due date are not eligible for the seller’s discount and are subject to a 10% late payment penalty and interest at 5% per annum. Electronically filed tax returns on the due date and paper tax returns postmarked by the due date will be considered timely.

Coming soon - You can file and pay online at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/business/foodandbeverage.

Yes, to help defray some of the costs incurred by the seller in collecting the tax imposed, sellers who collect and remit the tax in a timely manner receive a filing discount of 3% of the tax due for the first two years after January 1, 2026. Subsequently, beginning on January 1, 2028, and beyond, the discount allowed will be 1% of the tax levied if the payment is remitted on time.

Business owners are required to keep and preserve complete records of taxable sales and claimed exempt sales paid for the current calendar year and the three previous years.

Payments submitted after the due date are subject to a 10% late payment penalty. Late payments are also subject to interest at 5% per annum.

You may contact the Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration by email at foodandbeverage@fairfaxcounty.gov or by phone at 703-222-8234 option 4 (TTY 711). 

Businesses that are not collecting the correct Food and Beverage Tax may be reported to DTA Business Compliance at  DTABusinessCompliance@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Growlers, unless sold with food, are not taxable.

You can file and pay online by visiting our website at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/business/foodandbeverage.

Filing and payment are due on or before the 20th of the month following the reporting period. Filings and payments submitted after the due date are not eligible for the seller's discount and are subject to a 10% late payment penalty and interest at 5% per annum.

Payments received after the due date are subject to a 10% late payment penalty. Late payments are also subject to interest at 5% per annum.

If you cannot pay the balance in full, you are encouraged to pay as much as possible by the due date. Any amount not paid by the due date will be assessed late payment penalties and interest and may also become subject to additional collection fees.

You may contact the Revenue Collection Division by phone at 703-222-8234 (TTY 711) or by email at DTARCD@fairfaxcounty.gov.