When someone in Asheville lists their automobile on a peer-to-peer car-sharing app like Turo, they’re doing what North Carolinians have always done: finding a way to put what they own to work.
They paid taxes on that car when they bought it. They pay property taxes on it every year.
As the costs of needs like groceries and car ownership rise in North Carolina on a seemingly daily basis, thousands of state residents are turning to the car-sharing economy to cover their costs of living. And tens of thousands more North Carolinians are using car-sharing marketplaces like Turo as an accessible way to fill their mobility needs.
But last week, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 595, and if Gov. Josh Stein signs it, those same car owners will face an entirely new round of taxes on top of what they already pay: charges written specifically for commercial rental companies like Enterprise and Hertz.
Here’s how the double taxation works.
North Carolina has two different tax tracks for vehicles. Private owners pay one sales tax at purchase and another property tax annually. Commercial rental companies operate under a separate structure — designed for businesses that operate at scale — that exempts them from the taxes private car owners pay and instead applies a tax on revenue from car rental transactions.
That division exists for a reason: A person renting out their car on weekends runs nothing like a commercial rental fleet, and the state’s existing framework reflects that.
SB 595 erases that distinction.
It drops the commercial tax structure onto individual car owners who already pay under the personal track, with no adjustment to what they owe as private vehicle owners. And not stopping there, it also allows local governments to add another charge on top of that.
No one has made a serious case that any problem exists here requiring legislative action: no revenue gap, no market failure, no consumer harm that SB 595 addresses. It is a solution in search of a problem, and lobbyists funded by the traditional rental car industry have found the problem only by creating it.
What traditional rental car companies are really trying to do is expand their already lopsided tax advantage. NetChoice research shows that operators like Hertz and Enterprise receive a $96 million annual windfall from avoiding the sales tax on auto purchases that private North Carolina residents pay.
SB 595 will only tilt the playing field even further.
What happens when a state singles out digital platforms for tax treatment their traditional competitors don’t face? The market gets less competitive, prices go up and the options North Carolinians have come to rely on get more expensive or disappear.
Fair tax policy isn’t just a talking point. It’s what keeps markets working for the people of North Carolina.
In Rocky Mount or Wilmington, someone who listed their car to help cover a car payment now faces a significantly higher tax bill for doing so. Renters who turned to these platforms precisely because they offered a more affordable alternative to traditional rental counters will see those prices climb, too.
When costs rise, participation drops, options shrink and everyday North Carolinians absorb the impact first.
Stein should veto SB 595.
State residents who rent out their personal vehicles to earn a little extra income have already paid their share, and the North Carolinians who rely on those platforms for affordable transportation deserve better than a bill that solves nothing and costs them plenty.
Amy Bos is vice president of government affairs at NetChoice, a trade association that promotes free speech and free enterprise online. This op-ed appears courtesy of carolinajournal.com.