A Kentucky court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the city of Bowling Green against Hotels.com, Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity claiming that the companies owed back occupancy taxes to the city. Warren County Circuit Court Judge Steve Alan Wilson agreed with the online travel companies (OTCs) contention that the taxes can be levied only on the physical establishment that provides sleeping accommodations. The judge said in his opinion that if governments want to levy this kind of tax, they must do so through their legislatures, not through the courts. Including this case, the online travel companies have now won nine of the 10 court decisions on these issues.
"We are pleased and gratified that the court recognized that online travel companies neither own nor operate hotels and thus should not be liable for hotel occupancy taxes. We hope that other municipalities will recognize the growing body of legal decisions in favor of the industry on this issue and work through cooperation, rather than litigation, to increase local tourism,” said Andrew Weinstein, spokesman for the Interactive Travel Services Association.
