City of Houston v. Hotels.com, L.P.

OPINION

TRACY CHRISTOPHER, Justice.

This is one of many similar suits across the country in which local taxing authorities have sued online travel companies to recover allegedly unpaid hotel occupancy taxes. Although the claims are similar, the outcome of each case depends on the evidence introduced and the language of the taxing provision at issue. Both the City of Houston and the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority tax “the cost of occupancy,” which they contend is the amount paid by the consumer to the online travel company. The defendant companies maintain that these provisions tax the…