Virginia Dems want to tax gym memberships, Amazon orders, leaf blowers after Spanberger ran on 'affordability'

Virginia Democrats are proposing a slew of new hikes, pushing to have consumers to pay up for their gym memberships, Amazon orders, leaf blowers, and over a dozen other tax hikes. All of this comes after the Democrats and Governor Abigail Spanberger ran on "affordability," a message that flies in the face of the new proposals.

The new tax bills are pushing for a tax on all of the following areas:

• Higher sales taxes on all Virginia counties and cities
• Personal property tax on electric leaf blowers as well as electric landscaping equipment
• Large employer tax
• Ammunition and firearms tax
• New income tax brackets
• A delivery tax, set to hit Amazon orders, FedEx and UPS orders, as well as Uber Eats in Northern Virginia
• Gym membership tax
• Counseling tax
• New car tax and highway usage fees
• Storage facility tax
• Investment income tax
• Event tax
• Vehicle repair tax
• Dry cleaning tax
• Fantasy sports tax
• Rideshare tax
• Dog walking tax
• Digital personal property tax
• Increase in taxes in the Arlington area for hotels
• Statewide speed camera (not a tax, but additional fines)

The list of taxes comes after Abigail Spanberger has only been governor for a couple weeks, and the Democrats picked up a few seats in the House of Delegates last year. An Uber spokesperson told 7News, “As Virginia residents continue to struggle with high cost-of-living, efforts to impose new taxes and fees on rideshare and delivery services are unwise. While we share legislative leadership’s goal of funding transportation and lowering costs for Virginians, these proposals will likely have the opposite effect: increasing costs on both riders and drivers, decreasing transportation options, and harming small businesses."

The state has proposed to also increase the top state income tax bracket from 5.75 percent all the way to 10 percent for anyone making over $1 million a year. The Democrats are also looking to add a state-level net investment income tax for capital gains, dividends, and rental income for anyone earning a modified adjusted gross income over $500,000 a year.

Meanwhile, neighboring states to Virginia are cutting taxes, per CNBC. West Virginia is looking to phase out their income tax, and North Carolina lowered their flat income tax from 4.25 percent to 3.99 percent in January. North Carolina is looking to go even lower, to 2.49 percent, in the coming years.

Spanberger, as well as other Democrats in the state legislature, ran on the message of "affordability" during the 2024 election. On Spanberger's campaign website, she wrote that she "knows that the combined cost of housing, childcare, groceries, and prescription drugs is making it harder to make ends meet."

Spanberger told lawmakers last week that she wants Virginia to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which will increase Virginians' electric bills.