CONTACT: Caleb Tiller, +1 703-684-0836, ext. 138
Nicole Hayes, +1 703-684-0836, ext. 133
Denver, CO and Tallahassee, FL (May 5, 2008) -- The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) today congratulated the state legislatures of Colorado and Florida for putting aside misguided proposals that would have created new taxes unfairly targeting rental car customers.
“The non-passage of the proposed new car rental taxes in Colorado and Florida represent significant victories for the business communities of those states,” said NBTA President & CEO, Kevin Maguire. “NBTA members and Chapters in Colorado and Florida were active in the effort to inform lawmakers about the negative impact of discriminatory car rental taxes on local businesses and citizens. On behalf of all of those who wrote letters, sent emails and called their elected officials, I want to thank legislatures for recognizing that it does not make sense to target select groups of consumers to pay for initiatives that benefit an entire state.”
The Colorado proposal would have imposed a fee of $6 per day on all car rental customers. The Florida proposal would have increased fees by $2 per day for customers renting cars at international airports in much of the state.
Maguire added, “When the legislatures of Colorado and Florida begin their next sessions, transportation funding will certainly be among the top priorities. We encourage lawmakers to find solutions that do not unfairly single out select groups of consumers to pay for transportation projects.”
NBTA has been actively engaged for two years in raising awareness about the negative impact of discriminatory car rental taxes. While there is often a misperception that car rental taxes only affect out-of-towners, research has shown that more than half of car rental customers are generally local, and a majority of companies spend at least half of their car rental budgets in the markets where the companies are located. In addition to the current victories in Colorado and Florida, members of NBTA and its Chapters have helped defeat car rental tax proposals in Florida (2006) and Wisconsin (2007).
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world’s premier business travel organization. U.S.-based NBTA and its regional subsidiaries – NBTA Asia Pacific, NBTA Canada and NBTA Mexico – serve more than 3,200 members in 30 nations around the globe. NBTA has 41 U.S. Chapters with more than 5,000 members. NBTA members are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, who collectively manage and direct more than US$170 billion of global business travel expenditures annually. The association provides industry-leading networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. For more information, visit www.nbta.org.
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