Georgia House bill could make it more costly for riders to use Uber, Lyft

A bill that passed the Georgia House late Friday would make it more costly for those in Georgia who use the popular ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft by charging them sales tax on the transaction.

House Bill 22 passed after it came up for a second vote and now moves to the Senate, where it faces a committee hearing before it can be voted on by the Senate.

The bill would require companies like Uber and Lyft to collect sales tax, something they don’t currently do. Supporters of the legislation contend that taxi and limousine companies in Georgia are required to collect sales tax. In Columbus, that would add 8 percent to an Uber ride. For a $20 ride, it would add an additional $1.60.

“After first voting down and rejecting a high tax on every Uber ride in the state of Georgia, the House reversed course and passed the tax hike — forcing seniors to pay more for rides to their doctors, students to pay more for safe rides home late at night, and commuters to pay more for rides to work,” said Uber spokeswoman Evangeline George. “This tax is wildly out of step with how ride sharing is governed across the United States. As this legislation moves to the Senate, we urge senators to protect the hard-earned money of their constituents and work to create a solution that makes sense for Georgians.”

The House rejected the bill early Friday on an 88-82 vote. It came back later in the day and passed 106-60.

The Columbus delegation did not vote along usual legislative lines on the final bill. Rep. Richard Smith, Republican, Rep. Calvin Smyre, Democrat, and Rep. Debbie Buckner, Democrat, supported it, while Rep. John Pezold, Republican, and Rep. Carolyn Hugley, Democrat, were against it.

Buckner is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which approved the bill last month. She voted against it in committee, but after digging deeper in the legislation, she voted for it twice on Friday.

For Bucker, it came down to fairness.

“There is already a sales tax on the cabs and limousines,” she said. “If we don’t do this, we are setting up a system that is unfair. ... I am trying to make it fair. We collect from one, we collect from all.”

Hugley said she also saw it as a fairness issue, but not in the same way her Democratic colleague Buckner did. Uber launched in Columbus in September and Lyft recently began offering its service here.

“This industry is fairly new,” Hugley said. “I just felt they needed more time to work though how to pay their fair share. My vote was asking for the opportunity for them to do that.”

Senators are already asking questions, said Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus. And those questions go deeper than just the ride-sharing companies, McKoon said. He pointed out that the language that limited the tax to ride-sharing companies was removed prior to its passage by the House.

“My concern is are there unintended — or intended —consequences,” McKoon said Monday afternoon prior to the Senate going into session. “The way I read it now, it also captures all digital downloads, things like iTunes and Google Play. Does it now tax everything you buy from an app on your iPhone or Android?”

McKoon has asked Senate legislative counsel for an opinion on that specific point.

“When they took ‘ride sharing’ out before that second vote did they give the bill a much more far-reaching impact?” McKoon said.

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Georgia House bill could make it more costly for riders to use Uber, Lyft."