[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4175 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4175

 To protect consumers from discriminatory State taxes on motor vehicle 
                                rentals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 2, 2009

   Mr. Boucher (for himself, Mr. Akin, Mr. Carnahan, Mr. Graves, Mr. 
Boren, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Israel, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, and Mr. 
   Carter) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect consumers from discriminatory State taxes on motor vehicle 
                                rentals.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``End Discriminatory State Taxes for 
Automobile Renters Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to prohibit prospectively, and provide a 
remedy for tax discrimination by a State or Locality against the rental 
of motor vehicles.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Assessment and Assessment Jurisdiction.--The term 
``assessment'' means valuation for a property tax levied by a taxing 
district. The term ``assessment jurisdiction'' means a geographical 
area in a State or Locality used in determining the assessed value of 
property for ad valorem taxation.
    (b) Commercial and Industrial Property.--The term ``commercial and 
industrial property'' means property, other than motor vehicle rental 
property and land used primarily for agricultural purposes or timber 
growing, devoted to a commercial or industrial use, and subject to a 
property tax levy.
    (c) Discriminatory Tax.--The term ``discriminatory tax'' includes 
the following:
            (1) A tax discriminates against the rental of motor 
        vehicles if a State or Locality imposes the tax on, or with 
        respect to--
                    (A) the rental of motor vehicles but not on, or 
                with respect to, the rental of more than 51 percent of 
                the rentals of other tangible personal property rented 
                within the State or Locality, or
                    (B) the rental of motor vehicles at a tax rate that 
                exceeds the tax rate generally applicable to at least 
                51 percent of the rentals of other tangible personal 
                property within the same State or Locality.
            (2) A tax discriminates against the business of renting 
        motor vehicles if a State or Locality imposes the tax on, or 
        with respect to--
                    (A) the business of renting motor vehicles but not 
                on, or with respect to, the business of more than 51 
                percent of the other commercial and industrial 
                taxpayers within the State or Locality, on the same tax 
                base as the State or Locality employs with respect to 
                the business of renting motor vehicles, or
                    (B) the business of renting motor vehicles, at a 
                tax rate that exceeds the tax rate generally applicable 
                to the business of more than 51 percent of the other 
                commercial and industrial taxpayers within the State or 
                Local jurisdiction.
            (3) A tax discriminates against motor vehicle rental 
        property if a State or Locality--
                    (A) assesses motor vehicle rental property at a 
                value that has a higher ratio to the true market value 
                of the property than the ratio that the assessed value 
                of other commercial and industrial property of the same 
                type in the same assessment jurisdiction has to the 
                true market value of the other commercial and 
                industrial property,
                    (B) levies or collects a tax on an assessment that 
                may not be made under subparagraph (A), or
                    (C) levies or collects an ad valorem property tax 
                on motor vehicle rental property at a tax rate that 
                exceeds the tax rate applicable to commercial and 
                industrial property in the same assessment 
                jurisdiction.
    (d) Local or Locality.--The terms ``Local'' and ``Locality'' mean a 
political subdivision of any State, or any governmental entity or 
person acting on behalf of such Locality, and with the authority to 
impose, levy or collect taxes.
    (e) Motor Vehicle.--The term ``motor vehicle'' has the same meaning 
as in section 13102(16) of title 49 of the United States Code.
    (f) Other Commercial and Industrial Taxpayers.--The term ``other 
commercial and industrial taxpayers'' means persons or entities who are 
engaged in trade or business within a State or Locality and who are 
subject to some form of taxation by a State or Locality.
    (g) Rental of Motor Vehicles.--The term ``rental of motor 
vehicles'' means the rental of a motor vehicle that is given by the 
owner of the motor vehicle for exclusive use to another for not longer 
than 180 days for valuable consideration and only includes the rental 
of motor vehicles with a pre-arranged driver or motor vehicles without 
a driver, but shall not include taxi cab service as defined by section 
13102(20) of title 49 of the United States Code.
    (h) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the several States, the 
District of Columbia or any territory or possession of the United 
States, or any governmental entity or person acting on behalf of such 
State, and with the authority to impose, levy or collect taxes.
    (i) Tax.--Except as otherwise specifically provided below, the term 
``tax'' means any type of charge required by statute, regulation or 
agreement to be paid or furnished to a State or Locality, regardless of 
whether such charge is denominated as a tax, a fee, or any other type 
of exaction. The term ``tax'' does not include any charge imposed by a 
State or Locality with respect to a concession agreement at a federally 
assisted airport (provided the agreement does not violate the revenue 
diversion provisions of section 40116(d) of title 49 of the United 
States Code, or the registration, licensing, or inspection of motor 
vehicles, if the charge is imposed generally with respect to motor 
vehicles, without regard to whether such vehicles are used in the 
business of renting motor vehicles within the State or Locality.
    (j) Tax Base.--The term ``tax base'' means the receipts, income, 
value, weight, or other measure of a tax to which the rate is applied. 
The ``tax base'' of a tax imposed on a per unit basis is the unit.
    (k) Tax Rate Generally Applicable to Other Commercial and 
Industrial Taxpayers.--The term ``tax rate generally applicable to 
other commercial and industrial taxpayers'' means the lower of--
            (1) the tax rate imposed on the greatest number of other 
        commercial and industrial taxpayers or their customers, or
            (2) the unweighted average rate at which the tax is 
        imposed.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS.

    No State or Locality may levy or collect a discriminatory tax on 
the rental of motor vehicles, the business of renting motor vehicles, 
or motor vehicle rental property.

SEC. 5. REMEDIES.

    (a) Jurisdiction.--Notwithstanding any provision of section 1341 of 
title 28, United States Code, or the constitution or laws of any State, 
the district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction, 
without regard to amount in controversy or citizenship of the parties, 
to grant such mandatory or prohibitive injunctive relief, interim 
equitable relief, and declaratory judgments as may be necessary to 
prevent, restrain or terminate any acts in violation of this Act, 
except that such jurisdiction shall not be exclusive of the 
jurisdiction which any Federal or State court may have in the absence 
of this section.
    (b) Burden of Proof.--The burden of proof in any proceeding brought 
under this Act shall be upon the party seeking relief and shall be by a 
preponderance of the evidence on all issues of fact.
    (c) Relief.--In granting relief against a tax which is imposed in 
violation of section 4, the court shall strike the tax in its entirety, 
unless the court finds the tax--
            (1) is the equivalent of a specific tax imposed on at least 
        51 percent of other commercial and industrial taxpayers, and
            (2) is not discriminatory in effect. If such tax is 
        discriminatory in effect with respect to tax rate or amount 
        only, the court shall strike only the discriminatory or 
        excessive portion of the tax as determined by the court. 
        Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, the burden of 
        proof on the issue of whether a tax is the equivalent of a tax 
        imposed on other commercial and industrial taxpayers shall be 
        on the State or Locality that imposes the tax.
    (d) Cause of Action.--
            (1) An action to enforce the provisions of this Act may be 
        brought only by a person who--
                    (A) rents motor vehicles to another person,
                    (B) is engaged in the business of renting motor 
                vehicles,
                    (C) owns motor vehicle rental property, or
                    (D) rents a motor vehicle from another person.
            (2) A person who rents a motor vehicle from another person 
        and is seeking relief under this Act may only bring a cause of 
        action against the State or Locality imposing the 
        discriminatory tax as defined by this Act.

SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS.

    This Act shall not be construed to constitute the consent of 
Congress to State or Local taxation that would be prohibited in the 
absence of this Act.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) Effective Date.--The provisions of this Act shall become 
effective on December 2, 2009.
    (b) Exclusion.--Discriminatory taxes as defined by this Act are not 
prohibited under this Act if--
            (1) State or Local legislative authorization for a 
        discriminatory tax that is in effect as of December 2, 2009, 
        does not lapse, the tax rate does not increase and the tax base 
        for such tax does not change; or
            (2) a State enacts legislation by December 2, 2009;
                    (A) that specifically authorizes a Locality to 
                impose a discriminatory tax;
                    (B) the Locality imposes the authorized tax within 
                five years from the date the State enacted the 
                authorization for the Local tax; and
                    (C) the tax rate imposed by the Locality is not 
                increased and the tax base for such tax does not 
                change.
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