AI-assisted research summary: This section imposes rental car and car-sharing surcharges, sets who must collect them, and requires reporting and revenue allocation by the department.
1212.0606 Rental car surcharge.—(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Car-sharing service” means a membership-based organization or business, or division thereof, which requires the payment of an application fee or a membership fee and provides member access to motor vehicles:1. Only at locations that are not staffed by car-sharing service personnel employed solely for the purpose of interacting with car-sharing service members; 2. Twenty-four hours per day, 7 days per week; 3. Only through automated means, including, but not limited to, a smartphone application or an electronic membership card; 4. On an hourly basis or for a shorter increment of time; 5. Without a separate fee for refueling the motor vehicle; 6. Without a separate fee for minimum financial responsibility liability insurance; and 7. Owned or controlled by the car-sharing service or its affiliates. (b) “Motor vehicle rental company” means an entity that is in the business of providing, for financial consideration, motor vehicles to the public under a rental agreement. (c) “Peer-to-peer car-sharing program” has the same meaning as in s. 627.7483(1). (2) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4), a surcharge of $2 per day or any part of a day is imposed upon the lease or rental by a motor vehicle rental company of a motor vehicle that is licensed for hire and designed to carry fewer than nine passengers, regardless of whether the motor vehicle is licensed in this state, for financial consideration and without transfer of the title of the motor vehicle. The surcharge is imposed regardless of whether the lease or rental occurs in person or through digital means. The surcharge applies to only the first 30 days of the term of a lease or rental and must be collected by the motor vehicle rental company. The surcharge is subject to all applicable taxes imposed by this chapter. (3) A surcharge of $1 per day or any part of a day is imposed upon each peer-to-peer car-sharing program agreement involving a shared vehicle that is registered in this state and designed to carry fewer than nine passengers for financial consideration and without transfer of the title of the shared vehicle. If the duration of the car-sharing period for a peer-to-peer car-sharing program agreement subject to the surcharge established pursuant to this section is less than 24 hours, the applicable surcharge will be $1 per usage. The surcharge applies to the first 30 days only of a car-sharing period for any peer-to-peer car-sharing program agreement to which the surcharge applies and must be collected by the peer-to-peer car-sharing program. The surcharge is subject to all applicable taxes imposed by this chapter. (4) A member of a car-sharing service who uses a motor vehicle as described in subsection (2) for less than 24 hours pursuant to an agreement with the car-sharing service shall pay a surcharge of $1 per usage. A member of a car-sharing service who uses the same motor vehicle for 24 hours or more shall pay a surcharge of $2 per day or any part of a day as provided in subsection (2). The car-sharing service shall collect the surcharge. The surcharge imposed under this subsection does not apply to the lease, rental, or use of a motor vehicle from a location owned, operated, or leased by or for the benefit of an airport or airport authority. (5)(a) Notwithstanding s. 212.20, and less the costs of administration, 80 percent of the proceeds of this surcharge shall be deposited in the State Transportation Trust Fund, 15.75 percent of the proceeds of this surcharge shall be deposited in the Tourism Promotional Trust Fund created in s. 288.122, and 4.25 percent of the proceeds of this surcharge shall be deposited in the Florida International Trade and Promotion Trust Fund. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “proceeds of this surcharge” means all funds collected and received by the department under this section, including interest and penalties on delinquent surcharges. The department shall provide the Department of Transportation rental car surcharge revenue information for the previous state fiscal year by September 1 of each year. (b) Notwithstanding any other law, the proceeds deposited in the State Transportation Trust Fund shall be allocated on an annual basis in the Department of Transportation’s work program to each department district, except the Turnpike District. The amount allocated to each district shall be based on the amount of proceeds attributed to the counties within each respective district. (6)(a) Except as provided in this section, the department shall administer, collect, and enforce the surcharges as provided in this chapter. (b) The department shall require a dealer to report surcharge collections according to the county to which the surcharge was attributed. For purposes of this section, the surcharge shall be attributed to the county in which the rental agreement was entered into, except that, for peer-to-peer car-sharing, the surcharge shall be attributable to the county corresponding to the location of the motor vehicle at the car-sharing start time. (c) A dealer that collects a surcharge pursuant to this section shall report to the department all surcharge revenues attributed to the county where the rental agreement was entered into on a timely filed return for each required reporting period; except that, in the case of peer-to-peer car-sharing, the peer-to-peer car-sharing program shall report the applicable surcharge revenue attributed to the county corresponding to the location of the motor vehicle at the car-sharing start time. The provisions of this chapter which apply to interest and penalties on delinquent taxes apply to the surcharge. The surcharge shall not be included in the calculation of estimated taxes pursuant to s. 212.11. The dealer’s credit provided in s. 212.12 does not apply to any amount collected under this section. (7) The surcharge imposed by this section does not apply to a motor vehicle or a shared vehicle provided at no charge to a person whose motor vehicle is being repaired, adjusted, or serviced by the entity providing the replacement motor vehicle.