MASSACHUSETTS: Misc. Taxes: Airport Bus User Fee Not Preempted By Federal Law
Posted on: Sunday, 17 July 2005, 03:01 CDT
Absent congressional intent to the contrary, federal law does not preempt a Massachusetts monthly user fee imposed on interstate bus companies that transport passengers to and from the airport on a regular basis and to and from the airport to intrastate destinations inside the Commonwealth.
The fee is imposed on each bus company based upon the number of trips each entity makes to the airport. The bus companies contend that the fee is preempted by 14505 of the federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995, which prescribes states or political subdivisions from collecting a tax, fee, head charge, or other charge on a passenger, the transportation of a passenger, or the sale of passenger transportation in interstate commerce by motor carrier.
The federal law expressly limits transportation to passenger transportation. The state fee falls outside the scope of 14505, therefore, because the fee is not imposed on (1) the passenger but on the bus company, (2) the ticket purchased by the passenger, or (3) the transportation of a passenger traveling in interstate commerce. Given the plain meaning of the language of 14505, Congress did not intend to preempt state fees lodged upon motor carriers that were not calculated or based upon the transportation of passengers and that were imposed in exchange for the motor carrier's use and access to a state facility such as the airport. (Jalbert Leasing, Inc. v. Massachusetts Port Authority, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 04-10486-MBB, May 18, 2005.)
Copyright CCH Incorporated: Federal and State Tax Jul 6, 2005
Source: State Tax Review
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