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Tax On Uber, Lyft Rides Will Be Decided By San Francisco Voters In November

Tax On Uber, Lyft Rides Will Be Decided By San Francisco Voters In November

Lyft and Uber users in San Francisco may soon have to pay up to a 3.25 percent tax if a November ballot measure is pushed through. Other places such as Portland, Massachusetts, New York already impose taxes on ridesharing passengers

“Supervisors unanimously approved July 23 placing the proposed traffic congestion mitigation tax on the fall ballot. The measure is a compromise reached with Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. in a handshake agreement last July that halted a planned fall 2018 ballot measure targeting a tax on transportation network companies,” Bloomberg reported. 

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“The goals are very simple. This is a traffic congestion mitigation tax,” said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who proposed the tax along with Mayor London Breed. “We all know that up there with homelessness and housing affordability, traffic congestion is one of the top concerns of the people of the City and County of San Francisco.”

According to Ted Egan, chief economist with the City Controller’s Office estimates the tax will generate about $30 million to $35 million annually.

“The money is generated from the imposed tax of 1.5 percent tax on the fares of shared rides and 3.25 percent tax on all other rides. The tax on all rides in electric vehicles is 1.5 percent for five years. The tax would go into effect in 2020 if approved by two-thirds of voters,“The San Francisco Examiner reported.

The tax is expected to have a “ to have a mildly negative impact on the city’s economy,” according to Egan’s economic impact report, “equivalent to about 190 jobs and $25 million in GDP, in today’s dollars.”

Mayor London Breed (D) and Peskin are co-sponsoring the proposed initiative.