Ride-Hailing Companies Agree to Tax in San Francisco

Essentially, Uber and Lyft chose a tax on rides instead of a gross-receipts tax.

1 minute read

August 13, 2018, 8:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


City by the Bay

mandritoiu / Shutterstock

"San Francisco lawmakers want to tax Uber and Lyft rides, and both companies say that’s OK with them," reports Carolyn Said.

"The proposed tax, which applies only to trips that originate in San Francisco, would levy a 3.25 percent tax on net rider fares for single-party trips and 1.5 percent on shared rides," according to Said.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority will be responsible for spending the $30 million in expected revenue generated by the new tax on transit projects, if the State Legislature grants San Francisco powers to tax ride-hailing trips.

The ride tax eliminates the need for a ballot initiative planned for November "that would have asked voters to tax ride-hailing companies’ gross receipts at rates up to 0.975 percent." Rachel Swan reported in more detail on that proposal by Supervisor Aaron Peskin in April 2018.

The potential for a political fight over the gross-receipts tax paved the way for the new tax on rides, according to Said.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018 in San Francisco Chronicle

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