October 01, 2018
Consumers in New Jersey are headed for a slew of new taxes, most notably on digital services, such as ride-sharing and home listing sites, that begin Monday, Oct. 1.
As different cities and states across the country find a way to deal with Airbnb – the lack of regulation of which, some say, has jeopardized hotel markets, Gov. Phil Murphy rolled out a new tax on sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. Today a 5 percent hotel occupancy fee is applied to those site listings. In New Jersey, about half of those listings are posted by the property owner. There are thousands of listings along the Jersey Shore alone.
In addition to the new hotel occupancy fee, marketplaces such as Airbnb and VRBO must also collect a 6.625 percent sales tax. Municipalities can also collect up to three percent.
Other kinds of shore rentals did not receive new taxes, after some debate.
Gas taxes also are going up in New Jersey today. The gas tax is now 4.3 percent more per gallon, a reflection of a general decrease in the amount of gas purchased. This comes just two years after Gov. Chris Christie spearheaded the 23-cent increase on gas per gallon, which was met with some notable controversy.
Another new tax coming with the new week affects online sales. New Jersey will begin collecting a sales tax from retailers, per the Supreme Court ruling that said states can require online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes when a state's residents make a purchase. Some online sales tax already existed in the state, however, only for companies with a significant footprint in the state. Amazon is one example.
Over the weekend e-cigarettes received a new tax, as well. Nicotine liquid now requires a 10-cent per milliliter tax. That tax launched Saturday, Sept. 29.
Follow Marielle & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @mariellemondon | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Marielle's RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.
