VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Restaurant owners in Virginia Beach say the city's 7.5 percent meals tax is driving up costs for both businesses and customers, and now the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association is launching a campaign to push for a reduction.
For Zero's Subs owner Mark Stevens, every credit card transaction comes with an added burden. He says he not only collects the city's meals tax, but also pays credit card processing fees on the taxes collected.
"But it does cost you — cost me quite a bit of money every time I take a credit card and it includes a taxes cost of me personally 3% that I sent the city because they don't give us a credit," Stevens said.
Stevens says those added costs eventually make their way to the customer.
"You know I said it's gonna cost you .50more.50more.25 more depending on what you spend on how much you know what you sandwiches cost," Stevens said.
Customers in Virginia Beach pay the city's 7.5 percent meals tax on top of Virginia's state and local sales tax, bringing the total tax on a restaurant bill to more than 13 percent before gratuity.
The Virginia Beach Restaurant Association is now expanding its effort to rally both restaurant owners and the public behind lowering the tax. The campaign is encouraging residents to speak up and support what it's calling the "86 the VB Meals Tax" initiative.
"And basically an opportunity for the public support as our tagline says 86 the VB meals tax," Virginia Beach Restaurant Association Executive Director Martha Davenport said.
Davenport says restaurants are feeling many of the same financial pressures as their customers and believes it's time for city leaders to revisit the tax.
"Everything that somebody is feeling at home they're being in a restaurant industry," Davenport said.
The association says its immediate goal is a reduction in the meals tax.
"What we want is the immediate decrease in the meals tax," Davenport said.
As the campaign grows, the association also plans to make the meals tax an issue in this year's city council races.
"The third phase will be looking at we have some city council elections coming up. We want to talk to not only the incumbents that we want to talk to the candidates that are running in those races," Davenport said.
In a separate phase of the campaign, the association says it is also partnering with state partners to advance its effort.
"This next phase we're partnering with our state partners," Davenport said.
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