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.