The Indiana Senate unanimously passed House Bill 1059 on Tuesday. The bill exempts sales tax on RVs sold to certain out-of-state customers.
While Indiana RV manufacturers make 85 percent of all RVs in the U.S., sales tax is high at 7 percent. Indiana RV dealers frequently lose sales to neighboring states that do not tax the RV sales.
Bill Waltz, vice president of taxation and public finance at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce said it was nonsensical for Indiana to have such a large RV manufacturing presence there and yet dealerships “kind of suffer” when trying to compete with other states.
The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Doug Miller, was created to level the playing field for Indiana RV dealers. He said lawmakers should bring those sales back to the state of Indiana and “support an industry that employs thousands of Hoosiers” and contributes to the state’s economy.
Demonstrating the impact of RV industry advocacy efforts, Miller quoted the RVIA study that the RV industry has a $32.4 billion annual impact on Indiana’s economy. Miller said in addition to assisting the RV industry, the revision would likely stimulate other areas of local businesses.
