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D.C. Commuter Tax May Be Considered Next Year

July 20, 2012
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Rush hour traffic fills the Key Bridge between D.C. and Virginia in 2009. Now, Congress may consider allowing the District to impose a commuter tax on those who live in Virginia (or Maryland) and work in the Washington.
Victoria Pickering (http://www.flickr.com/photos/vpickering/3910289274/)
Rush hour traffic fills the Key Bridge between D.C. and Virginia in 2009. Now, Congress may consider allowing the District to impose a commuter tax on those who live in Virginia (or Maryland) and work in the Washington.

The District currently can't tax Virginians or Marylanders who commute to D.C. to work, but Congress may be considering revisiting that rule.  Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is proposing a hearing on the possibility that the District of Columbia could tax people who work in the District but live elsewhere.

The District is barred under the Home Rule Act from imposing a commuter tax. But Issa noted Thursday that the District is the only place in the country with such a restriction, and he says it's worth examining in a hearing, according to the Washington Post. 

Issa does not explicitly endorse the commuter tax, but he said during a hearing on the District's building heights restrictions Thursday he thought it was a bad idea to give workers an incentive to live in Maryland or Virginia and commute to the District, the Post reports.

Issa chairs the House Oversight Committee, which oversees District government.

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