Washington, D.C., October 26, 2012—Online travel companies (OTCs) cheered two major legal victories this week, as the Texas Supreme Court and a Hawaii state court affirmed that OTCs are not liable for lodging taxes on their hotel reservation services.
Today, the Texas Supreme Court denied the petition of the City of Houston and the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority to overturn the Texas 14th Court of Appeals case, decided in favor of the OTCs. Earlier this week, a Hawaii state court ruled that service fees charged by OTCs are not subject to state transient accommodations taxes.
“Local officials have been conned into thinking it is good public policy to try and collect illegal taxes. The lawyers promoting these ill-fated cases must have gone to the King George III School of Law,” said Simon Gros, Chairman of Travel Tech.
About Travel Tech
The Travel and Technology Association, or Travel Tech, is the association for online travel companies (OTCs) and global distribution systems (GDSs), and is dedicated to connecting consumers and travel providers, eliminating barriers to travel and protecting consumers. Travel Tech’s members include: Amadeus, Expedia, Orbitz Worldwide, Priceline, Sabre Holdings, Travelport and Vegas.com.
