Legal Trend: Online Hotel Booking. The Hotel Motel Tax.

The Court: The California Supreme Court

Did the court require online booking sites to pay hotel/motel taxes? No. The Court found that the online sites were not responsible for the local taxes.

Is it more complicated than that? theoretically, yes. Practically, no.

• The online booking sites are not obligated to pay the tax
•  But, the California Supreme Court agreed with the local governments that the tax should be based on the higher amount paid to the online booking site, not the lower amount paid to the local hotel.

Governing | Local Governments Suffer Tax Blow at California Supreme Court