TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ The extra fee online travel companies like Expedia and Travelocity charge customers above the actual cost of a hotel room isn’t taxable.
Thursday’s Florida Supreme Court ruling is a loss for 17 Florida counties that sued online travel companies claiming the full amount of what customers pay should be taxed _ not just the amount paid by the online companies to the hotels.
The court ruled that tourist development taxes counties collect from hotel customers should only be on what is paid for the actual room, not the booking services.
At stake was the millions of dollars counties were hoping to collect.