(a) The tax rate shall be at an amount equal to two and six-tenths (2.6) percent of the gross income from the business activity upon every person engaging or continuing in the business of providing the following forms of transportation for hire from this city to another point within the state:
(1) Transporting of persons or property by railroad; provided, however, that the tax imposed by this subsection shall not apply to transporting freight or property for hire by a railroad operating exclusively in this state if the transportation comprises a portion of a single shipment of freight or property, involving more than one railroad, either from a point in this state to a point outside this state or from a point outside this state to a point in this state, for purposes of this paragraph, “a single shipment” means the transportation that begins at the point at which one of the railroads first takes possession of the freight or property and continues until the point at which one (1) of the railroads relinquishes possession of the freight or property to a party other than one (1) of the railroads.
(2) Transporting of oil or natural or artificial gas through pipe or conduit.
(3) Transporting of property by aircraft.
(4) Transporting of persons or property by motor vehicle, including towing and the operation of private car companies, as such are defined in Article VII, Chapter 14, Title 42, Arizona Revised Statutes; provided, however, that the tax imposed by this subsection shall not apply to:
a. Gross income subject to the tax imposed by Article IV, Chapter 16, A.R.S. Title 28.
b. Gross income derived from the operation of a governmentally adopted and controlled program to provide urban mass transportation.
c. Reserved.
d. Reserved.
(b) Deductions or exemptions. The gross proceeds of sales or gross income derived from the following sources is exempt from the tax imposed by this section:
(1) Income that is specifically included as the gross income of a business activity upon which another section of Article II imposes a tax, that is separately stated to the customer and is taxable to the person engaged in that classification not to exceed consideration paid to the person conducting the activity.
(2) Income from arranging amusement or transportation when the amusement or transportation is conducted by another person not to exceed consideration paid to the amusement or transportation business.
(3) Any amount attributable to fees collected by transportation network companies issued a permit pursuant to A.R.S. Section 28-9552.
(4) Transporting for hire persons by transportation network company drivers on transactions involving transportation network services as defined in A.R.S. Section 28-9551.
(5) Transporting for hire persons by vehicle for hire companies issued a permit pursuant to A.R.S. Section 28-9503.
(6) Transporting for hire persons by vehicle for hire drivers on transactions involving vehicle for hire services as defined in A.R.S. Section 28-9501.
(c) The tax imposed by this section shall not include arranging transportation as a convenience to a person’s customers if that person is not otherwise engaged in the business of transporting persons, freight or property for hire. This exception does not apply to businesses that dispatch vehicles pursuant to customer orders and send the billings and receive the payments associated with that activity, including when the transportation is performed by third party independent contractors. For the purposes of this Subsection, ‘arranging’ includes billing for or collecting transportation charges from a person’s customers on behalf of the persons providing the transportation.
(d) Notwithstanding the tax rate identified elsewhere in this section, an additional tax in an amount equal to one-tenth of one (0.1) percent of the gross income from any business activity taxable under this section is imposed pursuant to Chapter IV, Section 5 of the Charter of the City of Tucson.
(Ord. No. 6674, § 3, 3-23-87; Ord. No. 8958, § 6, 9-22-97; Ord. No. 9322, § 12, 11-22-99; Ord. No. 10361, § 12, 12-19-06, eff. 1-1-07; Ord. No. 11479, § 1, 8-8-17; Ord. No. 11485, eff. 8-8-17; Ord. No. 11518, eff. 1-23-18; Ord. No. 11936, § 15, 7-12-22)
Editor’s note – Section 15 of Ord. No. 11936, adopted July 12, 2022, provides for an effective date of Sept. 1, 2016.