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Turo tells Kansas committee closing rental-car tax carve-out could recover $14–16 million
Summary
A Turo representative told a Kansas legislative committee that ending a 1991 tax carve-out for rental fleets and aligning registration under the International Registration Plan could restore roughly $14–16 million in annual state revenue while treating Kansans who host vehicles more evenly.
Ryan Cagney, senior government relations manager for Turo, told a Kansas legislative committee that closing a 1991 carve-out that shields many rental fleets from Kansas property tax could restore an estimated $14–16 million a year to the state budget and ‘‘level the playing field’’ for Kansans who rent their personal vehicles on the platform.
Cagney said the Kansas Department of Revenue reports the rental-car excise tax yields roughly $5.6 million annually, while the property-tax exemption tied to the 1991 change creates an estimated $15 million shortfall. He spoke to committee members during an informational briefing and urged lawmakers to consider applying the International Registration Plan (IRP) apportionment model to rental fleets so companies register—and pay property tax—in states proportional to their revenue there.
The proposal, as Cagney described it, would not create a new tax but would shift how taxes are applied: instead of the current outcome in which many fleet vehicles are registered out of state, companies with significant revenue in Kansas would register a proportional share of vehicles in Kansas and pay property tax during registration. Cagney said several states, including North Dakota, Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon and Maryland, require rental fleets to pay property tax or have moved to adjust how rental sales and property taxes are collected.
Committee members pressed Cagney on practical details. Representative Delverdang confirmed that Turo rentals are personal vehicles owned by Kansans; Cagney said most hosts rent only a few days a month and typically do not track the precise share of personal versus rental use. Representative ResMed asked about mileage accounting under the IRP; Cagney said IRP apportionment for rental fleets is based on revenue share rather than day-to-day mileage tracking. Cagney estimated Turo has "just shy of 500" vehicles in Kansas.
Representative Carr asked whether major rental firms enjoy a blanket exemption across states; Cagney explained that states differ—some collect sales or excise taxes on rentals while others have property-tax approaches—and cited Maryland's recent move to collect 50% of rental-car sales tax at purchase with plans to pursue the remainder later. Representatives Delperdine and Resnick questioned whether companies could register vehicles in low-tax states such as Oklahoma to avoid property tax; Cagney said that would be an advantage to companies, and he said his understanding is that vehicles not registered in Kansas do not generate Kansas property-tax liability, though he did not have company financials to definitively verify individual firms' practices.
The briefing produced no vote or formal action. The committee closed the informational session and adjourned. The transcript did not record a meeting date.
