Taxing issues: tourism officials want to block rising rates
Cash-starved cities and states are increasingly looking to visitors as sources of new tax income. And it’s not just hotel-room levies that are commonplace in the US, observers say.
Even more remote areas such as the Maldives are adding new taxes. About 700,000 tourists visit this Hawaii-style island in the Indian Ocean.
“There, the government is mulling a new environmental ‘greentax’ on tourists that is expected to generate US$8.3 million a year,” according to USA Today.
Other examples:
—The city of Rome is considering a $12-a-night hotel tax to boost the country of Italy, in an effort to avoid falling into a Greece-like financial crisis, is cutting back on promotional expenses. Already, most large cities in Europe have a hotel tax.
—New York City raised its room and sales tax last year to 14.25 percent, but in addition there are other fees that bring the total to more than 20 percent.
—The room tax in popular Hawaii recently was increased to 9.25 percent.
—In Nevada a room tax has been upped by 3 percent to a maximum of 12 percent in Las Vegas.
—In San Francisco, there will be a measure on the November ballot to increase its room tax by 2 percent, which is expected to bring in $23 million a year. The San Francisco tax currently is at 15 percent.
Much of the money raised in these new taxes does not go to tourism prevention but to general coffers to pay regular operating expenses.
So which American cities impose the highest discriminatory travel taxes on lodging, car rentals and meals? The National Business Travel Foundation found Portland, Oregon, to top the list when computing only taxes that target car rentals, hotel stays and meal. Their tax was $21.55.
In second place was Boston, at $21.52. Minneapolis was third at $16.51.
Travel industry groups are becoming increasingly critical of taxes on visitors. Michael McCormick, an official of the National Business Travel Assn., told a publication that "enough is enough." He added:
"It is unacceptable that visitors, whose general tax dollars can help to keep a community afloat in difficult economic times, are forced to pay so much more taxes and fees to fund projects unrelated to the services they purchase.”
By David Wilkening
David
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