Rental car companies collect $4 billion in special treatment while complaining that their competitors get special treatment

“[…] traditional rental car companies benefit from more than $4 billion in annual tax breaks and subsidies from state governments—thanks to "loopholes and special carve-outs" that aren't available to the newfangled peer-to-peer rental platforms.

The biggest of those loopholes is the simple fact that rental car companies are exempt from paying sales tax when they buy new vehicles. According to a report published this week by NetChoice, that sale tax exemption saved rental car companies more than $3.5 billion last year. In California, where other residents have to pay a 7.25 percent tax on the price of a new car, that tax break saved rental car companies more than $676 million in 2019”

- Eric Boehm via reason.com

View the full piece here.