B 26-0396 Legislature · 26th Council Period (2025-2026)

Transfer and Recordation Tax Appeals Amendment Act of 2025

This bill adds a formal appeal process for property transfer and recordation taxes in Washington, D.C. It allows property sellers (transferors) and buyers (transferees) to challenge the fair market value used to calculate these taxes. If the Office of Tax and Revenue determines a value that seems too high, affected parties can file a petition for review within 45 days, with appeals possible to the Real Property Tax Appeals Commission or Superior Court. The key change is creating a clear legal path to contest tax valuations on property transfers, aiming to address cases where taxes may exceed the actual property value.

Bill status signed all 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Oct 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Council Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Aug 2026

Introduced Oct 3, 2025 Signed Aug 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossment → Enrollment · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was finalized in its enrolled version, retaining the core policy of allowing property transferors and transferees to appeal fair market value tax determinations. The primary substantive change is a clarification in the bill's summary, which now explicitly states that appeals can go to the Tax Appeals Commission and then to the Superior Court, whereas the previous version only mentioned the Commission. Additionally, a minor technical correction was made to change the word 'member' to 'members' in the governing code.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on amending tax appeal procedures for real property transfers; no new entities or property types were added.

DEFINITION

The bill's summary was updated to explicitly mention the Superior Court as a subsequent appeal venue, clarifying the full appeal path.

TECHNICAL

A minor wording change in the underlying code replaced the singular 'member' with the plural 'members' to ensure grammatical accuracy.

Floor votes · Council May 5, 2026

How they voted

13–0

Passed

Total votes 13

May 5, 2026

D Democratic11

11 Yea

100% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 5, 2026

Council · Passed

Council Vote: pass (13-0)

council

Mar 31, 2026

Legislature · Passed

Committee Mark-up of B26-0396 by the Committee of the Whole

legislature

Jan 9, 2026

Committee

Re-Referral published.

legislature

Jan 6, 2026

Committee

Re-Referred to Committee of the Whole

legislature

Oct 7, 2025

Committee

Referred to Committee on Business and Economic Development

legislature

Oct 3, 2025

Introduced

B26-0396 Introduced by Chairman Mendelson at Office of the Secretary

legislature

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors