Restaurants and Bars
You owe tax on restaurants and bars if:
Your are engaged in the business of sales of prepared food and drink for
consumption on or off the premises in the city.
Examples of
taxable and exempt activities
Tax rate on restaurants and bars
The City of Mesa tax rate is 1.75% of the gross income from the business of
restaurants and bars. (Note: The Mesa City Tax rate increased to 1.75%
effective 07/01/2006)
Collection of tax
You may choose to charge the tax separately on each sale, or include
transaction privilege tax in your price. If you over charge any tax to your
customers, you must remit the excess tax to the city.
If you include tax in your price, you can use
factoring to
"back into" the tax included in your gross sales.
Special
situations
Exemptions available for items you purchase
Purchase of food, beverages and condiments which are resold by the
restaurant are not subject to tax when purchased from suppliers. Purchases
of non-returnable or disposable paper, cups, plates, bags, napkins, straws,
knives, forks and other similar food accessories to contain or facilitate
the consumption of the food, drinks, or condiments are also sales for resale
and not taxable when purchased from suppliers.