ARA helps improve property tax law in Maryland

The American Rental Association (ARA) scored another legislative victory in Maryland this year with the passage of Maryland Senate Bill 724, which went into effect on July 1, 2022.

The previous law replaced the personal property tax on heavy equipment property with a 2 percent gross receipts tax on the short-term lease or rental of heavy equipment property. The recently passed legislation makes a technical change to this provision. It exempts government agencies from the tax while also repealing a requirement that an equipment rental business with gross receipts subject to tax to report certain information to the county or municipality where the heavy equipment is located. Local governments will no longer be required to calculate the amount of property tax that would have been due under the personal property tax method.  

“While it makes sense to not charge government entities the tax, ARA did not want members to have to pay any shortage to the state due to the true up provisions that were in place. This fixes all those concerns,” says John McClelland, ARA’s vice president for government affairs and chief economist.

Other states that have passed similar legislation include Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.