Taxation of ridehailing in the United States

Abstract

Since the arrival of ridehailing, US state and local governments have grappled with the question of how to tax the new services. Dozens of jurisdictions have adopted entirely different approaches for different reasons. This paper reviews their experiences, including information on tax designs, motivations, histories, laws and revenues. Taxes are characterized by whether they are levied locally or at the state level, sales or excise taxes, ad valorem or specific taxes and flat or tiered taxes. Tables summarize the ridehail taxes, and a timeline organizes the history of tax adoption and changes. A discussion section draws general lessons useful to practice.