Federal Gift Shop Tax Act
Key claim: HR3650 would allow states, DC, and U.S. territories to impose sales taxes on purchases made at gift shops located on federal property, both in-person and online.
Abstract
(HR3650 · 119th Congress) Federal Gift Shop Tax Act This bill allows each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (or a political subdivision of the state or territory) to impose a sales tax on any purchase made in person or online at a gift shop located on federal property. Latest action (2025-05-29): Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Why this matters
The bill addresses a narrow but persistent jurisdictional gap in which retail sales at federally-sited gift shops (national parks, monuments, museums) have often escaped state and territorial sales tax. Granting collection authority to states, DC, and territories shifts a small consumer tax burden onto visitors while creating new compliance obligations for concessionaires, and it sets a precedent for how federal enclaves interact with subnational tax regimes.