Tax exporting and rental car taxes
Another few quotes on problems with funding local government with rental car taxes on outsiders, from Business Travel Executive magazine:
“Funding programs by taxing outsiders from other states or cities is what economists call ‘tax exporting.’ This type of taxation makes lawmakers less accountable to their constituencies and encourages overspending on projects that may or may not make economic sense,” states Andrew Chamberlain, staff economist for the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan educational organization in Washington, DC. “If a specific project is really needed, economists believe it should be funded through broad-based taxes spread fairly and evenly among those who will benefit from the project.” He says that economists believe that overall, car rental excise taxes are unreliable, regressive and retaliatory. (Full piece.)
Also, there’s another article in Auto Rental News with a bunch of quotes from me here.
Posted by Andrew on Wednesday September 27, 2006 | Feedback?
