Taxes at sky harbor (Phoenix, Glendale: rental car, for sale, 2015)

[ajonesaz]

I had to rent a car for some business stuff last week and unfortunately it had to be done at the airport. I knew the additional fees there are outrageous, but the receipt has some oddities.

They are charging like 10.7% for sales tax. Everything else in the airport is 9.3% Phoenix city rate. I don't see anywhere that states the rental car place is a special tax area. They can't legally charge their own sales tax rate. Anyone know what the deal is here?

Secondly, the concession fee varies between 10-15% depending on what company you use. The city of Phoenix only charges the company 10% - how are they legally allowed to pad their bank accounts while hiding it as a government fee?

[Jkgourmet]

Phoenix-Scottsdale Taxicabs and Rental Cars

Leave the Airport to Save a Bundle on Your Phoenix Car Rental – Exploration Vacation

Next time, take Uber to the car rental office around 28th street.

[PHX Newbie]

Off-airport car rentals are great; unless you arrive/depart outside normal business hours. If you must pick up or drop off the car after five PM and before Seven AM, your only option is to use the rental center at Sky Harbour.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Phoenix-Scottsdale Taxicabs and Rental Cars

Leave the Airport to Save a Bundle on Your Phoenix Car Rental – Exploration Vacation

Next time, take Uber to the car rental office around 28th street.

I understand that - however the airport was the only place to get a 16 passenger van. It is very difficult to rent one right now because of some kind of recall. They have all been pulled from rental lots.

[Bates419]

You can avoid the airport charge by picking up off-site and dropping off at airport.

Originally Posted by PHX Newbie

Off-airport car rentals are great; unless you arrive/depart outside normal business hours. If you must pick up or drop off the car after five PM and before Seven AM, your only option is to use the rental center at Sky Harbour.

[dvxhd]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

They are charging like 10.7% for sales tax. Everything else in the airport is 9.3% Phoenix city rate. I don't see anywhere that states the rental car place is a special tax area. They can't legally charge their own sales tax rate. Anyone know what the deal is here?

The short answer is that they can. Phoenix is heavily reliant on tourism and is one of the least walkable, most car-dependent cities in the country. You don't need to dig too deep in this forum to see people crow about low taxes. In reality, Valley cities just shift them somewhere else, including onto tourists in the form of taxes on car rentals, hotels and airfare. I've traveled to places that have poor public transportation options, and many sights can be hard to access without it. Attractions in Phoenix aren't clustered in one area, but instead are spread out over a larger area. If tourists want to see them, they have little choice but to rent a car, as taxis will get costly fast and public transportation here isn't reliable. The bus system is, at best, skeletal, and often tourists are intimidated by bus systems and prefer rail. You can see similar tax burdens on tourists in other car- and tourist-dependent cities, such as Vegas and Orlando.

In any case, the more stress that's put on local infrastructure and services, you'll see an inevitable increase on taxes. As people here whine and whine and whine over even a negligible tax increase, that burden on tourists may increase more. They have no voting power, so politicians aren't really afraid of alienating them.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by Bates419

You can avoid the airport charge by picking up off-site and dropping off at airport.

Not always allowed.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

I had to rent a car for some business stuff last week and unfortunately it had to be done at the airport. I knew the additional fees there are outrageous, but the receipt has some oddities.

They are charging like 10.7% for sales tax. Everything else in the airport is 9.3% Phoenix city rate. I don't see anywhere that states the rental car place is a special tax area. They can't legally charge their own sales tax rate. Anyone know what the deal is here?

Maricopa County assesses a special 3.5% tax on car rentals. The tax funded the Cardinals stadium in Glendale, as well as spring training and youth sports facilities. Phoenix has its own car rental tax for the Suns' arena (both the current one and any potential new one). These are in addition to normal sales tax levied by the state. Both are controversial and subject to ongoing lawsuits. Here's the latest update I can find:

Rental car firms challenging $34 million in Phoenix taxes - Washington Times

As with hotel room taxes, rental car taxes have become popular because the people most often affected by them (visitors from out of town) don't get to vote on them.

[Bates419]

Works for me every time I go to Phoenix. Price is almost cut in half but picking up off-site and dropping off at airport.

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Not always allowed.

[wit-nit]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

I had to rent a car for some business stuff last week and unfortunately it had to be done at the airport. I knew the additional fees there are outrageous, but the receipt has some oddities.

They are charging like 10.7% for sales tax. Everything else in the airport is 9.3% Phoenix city rate. I don't see anywhere that states the rental car place is a special tax area. They can't legally charge their own sales tax rate. Anyone know what the deal is here?

Secondly, the concession fee varies between 10-15% depending on what company you use. The city of Phoenix only charges the company 10% - how are they legally allowed to pad their bank accounts while hiding it as a government fee?

Explained in this web site: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rate
All fifteen Arizona counties levy a tax. Incorporated municipalities also levy transaction privilege taxes which, with the exception of their hotel/motel tax, are generally in the range of 1-to-3%. These added assessments could push the combined sales tax rate to as high as 10.7%.