Taxation Without Representation - Rental Cars

[Rain Man]

I just rented a car for five days in another city. Since I'm going to be there for a while, I got a full-size car (Taurus or equivalent) and had no problem paying the fee of $292. After all, the car company is giving me a car for five days and they have to buy it and clean it and maintain it and do the reservations and all that stuff.

So then I went to pay for it, and the total bill is $428. There are $136 in taxes piled atop my fee by the big ol' bloodsucking ticks of the local government. That's a 47% tax rate.

Are we back in the Middle Ages? Do I really have to pay an exorbitant extortion to the local duke to hunt in his duchy? (By the way, I always laugh when I type the word 'duchy'?) I'm importing money into the community, and I should be welcomed with the finest cheeses in the kingdom. But instead I have to pay 47% taxes? Really?

I see why it happens, and I admit that it's quite logical. The local government goes to the people and says, "Do you want us to tax a group of helpless strangers so we don't [implied threat here] have to tax you and/or cut services and/or [implied carrot] can give you more services?" Well, of course the voters are going to vote yes, because they can screw over someone else for their own benefit. It's like asking them, "Would you like us to get free money, which can't hurt you and might conceivably help you?"

The flaw in the logic, of course, is that every city is now doing this so people do pay for it, but it's twisted; travelers pay for another city's benefit and make that city's people pay for their own benefit. It's a perfect foil because no one is going to vote no in their own city, so the cities can keep raising the taxes to get as much money as they want. The only way to stop it would be to organize a coordinated campaign in every major city, which is a very difficult thing to do.

So where does it stop? The taxes are at 47 percent right now in the city I'm visiting. 80%? 100%? 500%? Seriously, why would a city not put a $500 per day tax on rental cars in their city? The residents won't stop it and the visitors can't. If the costs get too high, maybe people will start taking cabs, but the city can then put the same fees on cabs.

At some point, maybe conventions would stop coming to town. Maybe out-of-town businesses would stop serving that city. Maybe. Or maybe the businesses would just work remotely and stop spending money on hotels and restaurants, but that's not always possible. Maybe at some point convention planners would avoid the city. But honestly, rental cars are Step 26 of a 27-step process for visiting a city. Most people wouldn't know about a $500 per day rental fee until they're already committed to visiting.

It really is a perfect money machine for local governments. No cost, no culpability as long as they can point at other cities doing the same thing, no limits, and no recourse for those they tax. The highwaymen of yore have returned in strength.

[Brock]

And THAT is the right way to get a stadium built.

[Jilly]

Was it Arizona? Because that happened to me last month. I thought I was gonna jump over the counter at the girl who had no fault in what kind of taxes I was having to pay.

[blaise]

They usually charge you some fee for the airport, too. If you can get your hotel to pick you up with a shuttle you can sometimes get the rental car at an off-airport location and save a few dollars.

[Pitt Gorilla]

I just wish they would have got the Penguins. Dammit.

[BigRedChief]

I pay 1% of every $ I earn to the city of KC. I don't live there. Talk about taxation without representation. Thats a direct relationship.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

I just wish they would have got the Penguins. Dammit.

By the time they get a team in the Sprint Center (if it ever happens) it'll be only two or three years before they say they need arena renovations.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Brock

And THAT is the right way to get a stadium built.

The ONE time I've had to rent a car in KC was right after the tax was added for the SC.

I swear to ****ing God, the taxes were higher than the rates themselves.

All for a building that holds an occasional concert.

[alpha_omega]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I pay 1% of every $ I earn to the city of KC. I don't live there. Talk about taxation without representation. Thats a direct relationship.

I second that. What a crap tax.

Just FYI BRC, if you ever work out of town (away from your KC location) you can recover your 1% for each day you work out of town when you file taxes.

[sedated]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

All for a building that holds an occasional concert.

uh...not quite. that place is occupied 5 nights a week, easy.

[Pants]

That is freaking ludicrous.

[sedated]

I worked at the airport when the SC tax got added. No one was really happy about that one - the customers were livid and the rental car execs were pissed because it was a forced hike in prices that only affected the airport location (taxes and fees were DRASTICALLY less at locations in the city or suburbs).

The difference in price between renting at the airport and going to a Kansas suburb would be around $20 a day IIRC. They were able to shave off the KCMO fee, MO state fee, and the SC tax.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by sedated

uh...not quite. that place is occupied 5 nights a week, easy.

With what?

Obviously I don't live there, so I understand I could be dead wrong on this.

I guess the point is that they raped tourists to the city to build a stadium for a team(s) they really never had a chance to get to begin with, IMO.

[Deberg_1990]

The only solution to this is to never travel.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Jilly

Was it Arizona? Because that happened to me last month. I thought I was gonna jump over the counter at the girl who had no fault in what kind of taxes I was having to pay.

This is in Washington, but I think it's happening everywhere. I think it's accelerating, too.