Seven of the country’s largest online hotel booking websites have agreed to pay the District of Columbia more than $60 million in disputed sales tax and interest — if the companies lose their appeal of a trial judge’s decision finding them liable.
The District accused the online travel companies-Expedia Inc., Hotels.com LP, Hotwire Inc., Orbitz LLC, priceline.com, Travelocity.com LP and Travelscape LLC-of failing to pay the proper amount of local taxes. City officials claimed the companies were unlawfully paying taxes based on discount rates they negotiated with hotels, instead of the higher rates they charged consumers.
