The State of Florida and six Florida counties sued Expedia and Orbitz Nov. 3 over the hotel tax issue, ratcheting up the cross-country flurry of litigation.
The usual M.O. is for cities and counties to sue on this issue, but Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum says Florida, with its large hotel business and tourism destinations like Orlando and Miami, is the first state to do so. He says the state suit will help sort out the applicability of state tax laws to Internet travel firms.
In thinking about the hotel tax issue, one point that many people may be missing about the depths of the problem for the OTAs is that they are being hounded with scores of tax audits and assessments in addition to the lawsuits.
