Georgia County Government - Fall 2016 - 33

REGULATION unwillingness to comply with the obligation to collect such taxes may be magnified by the considerable administrative burden taxing authorities would likely bear in identifying Airbnb hosts and enforcing their obligations to collect taxes due. As overnight rentals in communities served by Airbnb or similar services begin to shift away from traditional hotels, this is likely to pose a challenge to local governments in collecting hotel and motel taxes and to the Revenue Department in collecting sales taxes. Like Airbnb, Uber serves its customers through an online platform. People in need of a ride use the Uber smartphone app and select an available car service to pick them up. Drivers turn on a similar driver's app on their smartphones when they are available to drive, and the Uber platform works to connect riders and available drivers to create the quickest pickup and most efficient route. Georgia levies a tax on transportation services, but as with accommodations provided through Airbnb, Uber drivers may not be aware of a need to collect such taxes and remit them to the Revenue Department or be willing to fulfill that obligation. As with shortterm rentals, identifying and collecting tax from individual ride-share drivers may also impose a considerable administrative burden on taxing authorities. Because of these difficulties, ACCG believes that, in these cases, the online platforms rather than the individual service providers are best positioned to calculate, collect, and remit taxes that are due on short-term rentals and ride-share services in Georgia. Like their counterparts who sell digital goods or make remote sales, these companies have the technical capabilities to digitally connect users and service providers and already, in most cases, provide the mechanism for payments to be made. In the case of Airbnb, it recently agreed to collect occupancy and lodging taxes from hosts in the City of Los Angeles, and its website indicates that it collects similar state and local taxes in as many as 20 states and the District of Columbia. ACCG supports legislation that would require these platform operators to collect local taxes on any short-term stay and ride-share transactions and to remit those taxes to the Revenue Department. ACCG believes this is a practical solution that will not overburden part-time providers of housing or ride-sharing services with excessive record keeping and filing requirements and that will allow for efficient and timely filing of sales tax returns. Looking Ahead These are exciting times. Advances in the digital economy hold great promise for Georgia's counties from both an economic development and service-delivery perspective. Online platforms provide critical means for buyers and sellers to meet in the marketplace, and incorporating digital products and services into the county service-delivery strategy has already aided local governments in becoming more efficient and responsive to their citizens. While fostering the growth and use of these products and services in Georgia, finding a workable way to impose taxes on transactions involving those goods and services will ensure that counties enjoy a stable source of revenue for decades to come. ACCG looks forward to working with stakeholders and policymakers at the state and federal level to give Georgia's counties the revenue tools they need to prosper in the digital age. ■ Glynn County A Golden Past. A Shining Future. Top Row: Bob Coleman Second Row: Bill Brunson, Mark Stambaugh Bottom Row: Mike Browning, Richard Strickland (Chairman), Dale Provenzano, Allen Booker Congratulations to Cindee Overstreet, ACCG Clerk of the Year, and Aaron Mumford, President of the ACCG County Attorneys Section. 815188_Glynn.indd 1 Glynn County Board of Commissioners @GlynnCounty Visit us at www.glynncounty.org Glynn County Board of Commissioners 1725 Reynolds Street, Suite 302 Brunswick, Georgia 31520 912-554-7404 FALL 2016 www.accg.org 6/28/16 33 1:57 PM http://www.GlynnCounty.org http://www.glynncounty.org http://www.accg.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - Fall 2016