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Los Angeles, CA - Internet Travel Agents File Suit Against NY Internet Tax |
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Published on:
December 22, 2009 08:56 AM
News Source: MarketWatch
News Source: MarketWatch
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Los Angeles, CA - A group of major Internet travel firms filed suit against New York City to stop the extension of a hotel tax on their clients.
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The plantiffs include popular sites such as Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Priceline, and privately held Travelocity, as well as the American Society of Travel Agents and the U.S. Tour Operators Association.
They allege that a law enacted in June to extend the city’s hotel room occupancy tax to “third-party travel intermediaries” is “unconstitutional and illegal” as the city “has no inherent power to tax.”
The law, which came into effect in September, was passed as part of a measure by New York to solve a budget shortfall amid lower tax receipts due to the global economic downturn.
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Read Comments (3) — Post Yours »
1
Dec 22, 2009 at 10:06 AM good samaritan (from 5t) Says:
i says tax them.....i dont use manhattan hotels.....if i want to drive in i do........if i had more money i would live there.....here it is getting a bit too heimish.
2
Dec 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM Anonymous Says:
There's no reason to exempt someone from NY Occupancy tax (on hotels) if they book through a third party. The hotels collect the 3.5% tax, and so should anyone else booking the room. Otherwise, the guest should be charged the tax when they check in.
This is an absurd loophole that should have been removed years ago. If you go into BestBuy in NY and get a computer, you pay sales tax. Same if you order that computer online, for "in store delivery" in NY, you pay sales tax.
What does it matter how you placed the order, over the phone with the store (or hotel) or online - if you're going in person to receive those goods or services?
I'm sure the hotels themselves were never too happy about the crazy technicality loophole either. It encouraged people to book a hotel through a third-party internet site (to whom the hotel had to pay commission, for no reason).
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Dec 22, 2009 at 12:52 PM Anonymous Says:
You can get out of hotel tax by booking online?! I don't believe it!