WEST HOLLYWOOD—West Hollywood is reminding shoppers and businesses that a sales tax rate is going into effect on Thursday, April 1. The current sales tax is 9.50 percent and will rise to 10.25 percent.
According to a press release from the city of West Hollywood, in November 2020 General Municipal Election; voters approved Measure E, which enacts a ¾-cent sales tax to address the COVID-19 revenue shortfall and longer-term impacts to the economy from the pandemic. The additional tax will keep collected tax dollars local to support community needs. Businesses are being reminded to update point-of-sale (POS) systems.
West Hollywood is projected to lose as much as $35 million in revenue over the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years, equal to approximately a 20 percent decline in revenue. The new tax rate could generate approximately $11 million annually. Measure E funds will help prevent cuts to programs and services for residents and could help the city recover providing assistance to protect public health, working with local nonprofits to help community members in need, and helping local businesses survive.
The maximum sales tax rate allowed in any jurisdiction in Los Angeles County is 10.25 percent. The city of West Hollywood was receiving approximately one percent of the 9.5 percent sales tax rate and the remaining 8.5 percent is allocated to other taxing entities including the state of California and Los Angeles County.
The California Department of Tax and Administration posted the special notice regarding the new Sales and Use Tax rates operative April 1, 2021. The special notice can be located at https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/formspubs/L797.pdf. This special notice is being mailed to approximately 171,000 California taxpayers and emailed to 703,000 taxpayers by April 1. Additional information about Measure E is available on the city’s website, including links to FAQs and a Community Presentation.
For more information about the sales tax increase, contact city of West Hollywood’s Revenue Manager, Annie Ruiz at (323) 848-6499 or at aruiz@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
For coronavirus updates for the city of West Hollywood visit www.weho.org/coronavirus and the city encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications. For up-to-date news and events, follow the City of West Hollywood on social media, sign up for news updates at www.weho.org/email, and visit the City’s calendar of meetings and events at www.weho.org/calendar.
