NEWS RELEASE: Full Implementation of Arizona Department of Revenue’s Transaction Privilege Tax Program Successfully Distributing Money Back to Arizona Cities

The first year of full implementation of the Arizona Department of Revenue’s (ADOR) transaction privilege tax (TPT) simplification is seeing strong tax dollar distribution back to participating cities. 

TPT is a gross receipts tax levied on businesses by the State of Arizona for the privilege of conducting business in the state, and for the first six months of 2017, ADOR distributed more than $1.4 billion to 91 cities. 

On January 1, 2017, 14 more municipalities joined 77 Arizona cities under the State TPT collection program. 

“The Arizona Department of Revenue is pleased that after years of working with cities to implement this centralized licensing and reporting framework for thousands of Arizona businesses, transaction privilege tax reform is now fully implemented under Governor Ducey’s administration,” said Arizona Department of Revenue Director, David Briant. “TPT is a streamlined and efficient program that enables hundreds of thousands of businesses to register, file returns, and make TPT payments via a central portal.” 

Under ADOR’s full implementation of TPT simplification, the Agency is the single point of administration and collection of state and city taxes for all business, including residential rental owners in the state. Businesses do not have to file two or more TPT returns, one with ADOR and another with the city or cities where the taxable activity occurred, they need to only file one return for all taxing jurisdictions. In addition to collecting TPT payments, ADOR oversees all licensing and administering of TPT, saving participating cities hundreds of staff positions. 

“The Arizona Department of Revenue is focused on enhanced customer service and as part of the TPT program, we have expanded our education and outreach programs with businesses and program cities to ensure TPT is working the way it should," added Briant, who pointed out the Agency recently established a special phone hotline 602-716-RENT (7368) and dedicated email address at [email protected] for residential rental property owners required to have TPT licenses.