Daily Herald story OK, what am I missing here? We've all suspected the tax on car rentals seems to be a sliding scale, but this guy says that car rentals aren't being taxed now?? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Or he's talking about a tourist driver's license??

Tough to tell for sure put it appears to be a tourist driver's license tax when you rent from how I read it.

Can't help but wonder if they've ever heard the story of the straw that broke the camel's back!

There comes a time when even the most die-hard island fan says enough!! The roads are atrocious, the ever-burning dump stinks and the idea of $80000.00 spent on Christmas decorations is a huge ouch when you look at the island causes that could have better benefited from the use of those funds - childrens causes, mental health, shelters.....and the list goes on and on.

This long-time visitor is appalled at the irresponsible government approach of spending money they can't afford on things they don't need and raising costs imposed on visitors to cover them - shades of Stateside spending. I guess the island government has learned that lesson well!

With regard to this new suggested fee or tax.......what does it do to the fluctuating 'government tax' already charged by car rental agencies and will French side agencies be charging this new fee or tax, too? If not, seems they would be receiving a benefit on every rental not given to Dutch side agencies. Just sayin'..........

..not to mention the government owned utility, GEBE, that can't manage to keep the lights on for more than a few minutes...

what am i missing here??? worse case...they add .or raise the departure tax 10 naf. that is $5.59 per person US funds. Add this fee to the airline ticket. Yea, its a Pain the [censored]....but under six dollars taxed on will not effect my coming (or going) to Paradise. Just hopefully this extra money will be used for infrastructural stuff as set up. Time will tell.

IF they put it into the price of the air tickets, it will just go away and no one will pay any attention. But if they make people stand in another line to pay departure tax, it will just p*ss people off. As far as what they do with the money? That would definitely be a different issue.

Exactly, Carol. I remember all too well, from our earliest trip in '73 when we had to stand in that long line to pay our $2.00 departure fee clear up to a few years ago when, thank heavens, they finally put it in the air tix.

And Ed, I have no issue with six dollars but I do believe the government needs to be more responsible/accountable to its citizens and guests alike. And it has to end somewhere........

When they have a continued income stream from tourists and it seems never ending to the government, who cares about responsibility or accountability?

It would be a logistical nightmare to add it to the price of an airline ticket. Not everyone will be renting or driving a car there. How will the airlines know whom the fee should be charged?

OK, this thread got a little confused with the other thread. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> The government's proposal is to levy an exit tax on people leaving SXM. (See the other thread about that.) This exit fee would be levied on those leaving by plane or by boat (except for cruise ships). Then today, this other legislator is proposing INSTEAD of that, to tax either car rentals directly, or have some kind of a tourist driver's license fee. The reference to having a line to pay at the airport (or to have it included in the air tickets) has to do with the other proposal, for the exit tax.

Taxation without representation is a tried and true means of raising revenue. Tourists don't vote. It's no different here. Sports stadiums are often paid for in part by hotel and car rental taxes.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2016/08/22/nfl-mlb-stadium-tax-hotel-tourists-fans/88489236/

Everytime I get quoted a car rental it's plus 12% tax.....What's that for?

Who knows? Especially since all car rental guys charge different amounts!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/smashpc.gif" alt="" />

It is time to rent from the french side companies.
Only 4% tax.
They meet you at the airport parking with the car and paper work on pickup and drop off.
AND No silly DL tax from the dutch side government

Tax is only a small part of the entire rental price. Before I would focus solely on the percentage of tax, I would look at the bottom line for the total/all in price, service and convenience.

it is no secret that governments everywhere have an in satiable hunger for more and more tax revenue. the need to feed the money eating beast is occasioned by such a waste of $$$---80,000 for christmas decorations??------and the number i hear from islanders that i meet that ministers are paid 10,000 a month--plus perks---in a country of 40,000 people---no wonder why at election time there are so many candidates.the beat goes on -----and yes ---where does the current car rental tax end up---?----general fund??aka black bottomless hole.

We must not forget the 4% that was added on the rooms a couple years ago to.
We have been to many islands with a departure tax some you wait in line and must have USA cash they won't even except their own currency

I hope they rethink this as it will definitely not make it better

While I think taxes/fees are getting out of hand and are often misused, hotels do the same things here and it was mentioned earlier.

Book any hotel/motel and there is often a bed/lodging tax that anyone staying there pays. This is in addition to sales tax and any other local taxes and often add up to 15% or more. We stayed in a hotel earlier this year in a large US city and in addition to the 15% tax there was also an additional tax of $5/night for state transportation projects. This is also done to fund sports stadiums and other projects.

Taxes are often about letting others foot the bill for goods/services they don't use.

Below is the approx. tax for a hotel room in Atlanta GA. 16% PLUS $5/night.

"Estimated Total Tax: 16% per room per night.
Estimated Total Tax Amount (in addition to total percentage tax if applicable): 5.00 USD per room per night."

Not our island/country, not our laws. We can either choose to continue to go there and pay the new fees/taxes or or stop doing so. Personally, the high cost of airfare from anywhere other then the East coast will do more to hurt tourism than a $5 tax/fee or a 4% tax.

Apparently the Daily Herald is in favor of taxing tourist driver's licenses, they say to discourage tourists from driving. Therein lies the rub! That's nice to say, but when there is no dependable bus service and the cost of taxis is sky high, combined with all the other issues that SXM has, maybe a lot of people will resolve the problem by looking to vacation in other places, like Aruba or Cancun, both of which have a good bus system.

$20 or so is not an amount of money that should break the bank for anyone that has any business going to SXM. But it is more about a sense of irritation that government can spend $80,000 for Christmas decorations and another $120,000 for lights for the new government building, yet can't keep Back Street paved or build a much needed sewage treatment plant, or keep the lights on, or keep the dump from burning every other day...

Amazing.

Just gave Aruba another chance the end of November. This time we stayed on palm beach high rise area. We had a great time great food, great resorts. No need for a car rental. Bus system clean and efficient. St. Martin seems to be losing some or its luster. And it isn't about the money, it's about the we don't care about the tourists attitude. When we can't even get timeshare protection from the place we've all contributed to build and help prosper. Something is definitely not right here. We have always loved our island BUT. How many times do you have to be smacked before you say ouch.

You are right on! SXM is losing something <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> and there are some beautiful islands out there in the Caribbean, not just SXM. There are 3 right next door.

A tourists drivers license would be totally ridiculous. It would be impossible to enforce unless the car rental companies issued them and then it's still enforcement because I'm not sure how well the government does at collecting taxes.

I wonder if they have an audit staff at all to check and see if all taxes are actually remitted.

If they limited the number of rentals, it sure seems that would have a negative effect on the car rental businesses.

Are we not the kettle calling the pot black?
I pay 9% sales tax + 2.5% Restaurant & Lodging sales tax
Storm water Tax & garbage Tax
Gas tax
Property Tax
Federal and state Income tax
Social security tax
And with all of this every city in America pays for Christmas decorations.

Wow! I thought we were bad with 7% sales tax. But at least we don't pay tax on everything like FL does.

Just discovered that 2 states, TN & PA charge NO TAX on retirement income like SS or a 401. Think I'll move!

I don't think I would categorize us as a kettle. We all pay a good deal of our income to help the less fortunate and keep us a great country. That's why we're #1. We all get quite a bit for our money. But when we pour so much money into another country and don't even get consideration. Well, that makes me feel a little abused. Just saying. Don't get me wrong I love the island, but maybe not so much as I used to.

Also the island has to be competitive with other vacation destinations.

Wendell

I don't believe that Florida has income tax. I have friends that live there half of the year to avoid different taxes.

Pretty sure they (FL) have no state tax and possibly other taxes as the MIL has her primary residence there for the tax benefit.

Correct there is no state income tax in Florida. That is one reason a lot of retires move here.