Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

INNOVATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY | Fri Aug 19, 2016 1:58pm EDT

Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis

By David Ingram

Massachusetts is preparing to levy a 5-cent fee per trip on ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft and spend the money on the traditional taxi industry, a subsidy that appears to be the first of its kind in the United States.

Republican Governor Charlie Baker signed the nickel fee into law this month as part of a sweeping package of regulations for the industry.

Ride services are not enthusiastic about the fee.

"I don't think we should be in the business of subsidizing potential competitors," said Kirill Evdakov, the chief executive of Fasten, a ride service that launched in Boston last year and also operates in Austin, Texas.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-massachusetts-uber-idUSKCN10U1ST

[MADem]

1. Tax and Spend Baker.

The bum took away our August tax free weekend, too.

I'll bet he'll raise taxes too.

Funny how the Republicans always try to lay that "tax and spend" crap on the Democratic Party, but they're the ones who do it like gangbusters. Mittsy used to cut benefits and raise eligibility thresholds.