Tax for Florida CarShare Customers Cut in Half

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Feb. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Car-sharing customers in Florida are now paying a $1 per-use tax – half the rate paid in 2014.

Enterprise Holdings – owner and operator of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands – opposes all discriminatory excise taxes that target car-rental and car-sharing customers. However, the company also believes this pro-rated tax is both equitable and fair since most car-sharing transactions cover less than 24 hours at a time.

Under Florida's new legislation, effective Jan. 1, all Florida car-sharing customers are being charged a $1 per-use surcharge, versus the previous $2 surcharge.

"We have supported this tax cut all along because it's a step in the right direction," said Ryan Johnson, vice president of Enterprise CarShare, Enterprise Rideshare and Zimride by Enterprise. "It also helps draw attention to unfair taxes that single out local as well as out-of-town car rental customers. This is a small victory for consumers, but an important one. In Florida and elsewhere, we'll continue to advocate for our customers on this issue, whether they rent for an hour, a day, a week or longer."

Enterprise Holdings has a long record of speaking up for consumers on issues that affect the car rental and travel industries. In 2009, for instance, Enterprise spoke out against Florida legislation seeking to raise the daily surcharge to $4 per day.  A year later, Enterprise Holdings testified in support of the "End Discriminatory State Taxes for Automobile Renters Act" (H.R. 4175) before the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.

Today, Enterprise supports the Curb Auto Rental Taxes (CART) Coalition, which opposes excise taxes that unfairly target car-rental and car-sharing customers to fund unrelated programs and projects. CART is comprised of some of America's leading companies, policy organizations, labor and consumer advocate groups, including the American Society of Travel Agents, Americans for Tax Reform, National Urban League, the United Auto Workers, Property Casualty Insurers Association of America and National Consumers League.

The Enterprise CarShare program is a natural extension of the extensive Enterprise Rent-A-Car network, which has more than 5,500 fully staffed offices – 50 percent more than its nearest U.S. competitor. These convenient and accessible offices not only are located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population, but also reflect the company's longtime focus on offering sustainable local transportation options, including vanpooling.

In fact, Enterprise has been delivering local transportation alternatives since 1957. Forty years later, it trademarked the term Virtual Car® after recognizing the long-term impact of such a sustainable neighborhood-based business model. Enterprise CarShare is now available in more than 35 U.S. states, Canada and the U.K., on nearly 100 university campuses, 40 dedicated government and business programs and hundreds of business accounts across the country.

Over the past year alone, Enterprise CarShare's membership has increased by almost 100 percent and has launched more than 30 new programs in North America.  As a result, Johnson was not surprised when venture capitalist Fred Wilson publicly noted that: "(In 2014) … the 'sharing economy' was outed as the 'rental economy.'"

"We certainly don't expect local car-sharing services to be taxed differently than local car-rental, but we do we expect such transportation services to be taxed fairly," Johnson stressed. "Florida's approach to taxing car-sharing customers on a per-use basis rather than per-day is a great example of common-sense public policy. We hope this new tax application sets a standard elsewhere in order to reduce unfair tax burdens on our hourly car rental customers."

For more information about car-rental and car-sharing excise taxes, visit www.curbautorentaltax.com. 

About Enterprise Holdings
Enterprise Holdings, the largest car rental company in the world as measured by revenue, fleet and employees, and its affiliate Enterprise Fleet Management together offer a total transportation solution. Combined, these businesses – which include extensive car rental and car-sharing services, commercial truck rental, corporate fleet management and retail car sales – accounted for $17.8 billion in revenue, employed 83,000 and operated 1.5 million vehicles throughout the world in fiscal year 2014. Enterprise Holdings, through its regional subsidiaries, operates the largest fleet of vehicles in the world through a global network of more than 8,600 fully staffed neighborhood and airport locations under the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands. Enterprise Fleet Management provides full-service fleet management to companies and organizations with medium-sized fleets. Other transportation services marketed under the Enterprise brand name include Enterprise CarShare, Enterprise Rideshare, Enterprise Car Sales, Enterprise Commercial Trucks and Zimride by Enterprise.

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SOURCE Enterprise Holdings

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