Senate adopts conference report making online marketplaces responsible for sales-tax collection

The Senate on the floor adopted the conference committee report on Senate Bill 162, a change to Title 47 that treats some online rental and lodging platforms as marketplace facilitators and requires them to collect and remit state and local sales and use taxes.

Senator Reese said the report "repeals those provisions of law" that previously excluded providers that facilitate sleeping rooms, cottages, cabins or rental cars, and explained, "These online businesses will be considered marketplace facilitators and will be required to collect and remit state and local sales taxes to the remote sellers commission effective July 1 of this year." The Senate voted to concur in the committee report, with the secretary closing the roll at 35 yeas and 0 nays.

Why this matters: the change shifts collection responsibility onto online platforms for certain transactions previously exempted, creating a new compliance obligation for those companies and a new revenue-collection mechanism for state and local governments.

Details and implementation: Senator Reese said the change removes statutory carve-outs for platforms that facilitate lodging and rental-car transactions. The conference committee report was signed by all six conferees, and no floor debate or amendments were recorded in the transcript. The motion to adopt the report passed unanimously in the roll call announced on the floor.

Next steps: The transcript records the statutory change taking effect July 1; agencies that administer sales tax collection will need to incorporate the amended definitions into collection procedures and guidance for affected businesses.