City wins Expedia lawsuit

June 16, 2009 | Online Travel

The Georgia Supreme Court gave Columbus a victory Monday in the city’s battle against online travel services that charge customers a higher retail rate for booking a hotel room and then pay the local government a lodging tax based on a cheaper, wholesale room rate.

In the case of Columbus v. Expedia Inc., the court ruled 4-3 that the online travel service should pay lodging taxes based on the higher costs they charge customers, not on the lower wholesale room rate the hotels charge Expedia.

The high court’s decisions are binding across Georgia, so the Columbus case could affect other suits filed by governments seeking to get as much revenue as they can from lodging taxes.

But the Expedia case is not the only one Columbus has before the state’s highest court. The city also has filed suit against Hotels.com over the same issue. Attorneys expect the Georgia Supreme Court to rule on that case soon.

Get the full story at the Ledger-Enquirer

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