City and County of Denver, Colorado; Brendan Hanlon in His Official Capacity as the Chief Financial Officer of The…

Summary

The court held that online travel companies operating under the merchant model are vendors under Denver's lodger's tax ordinance and must collect and remit tax on the full price charged for lodging, including their markup. It reasoned that the ordinance's definitions, read together and in light of the companies' functional role in the transactions, make them sellers of the right to occupy hotel rooms and make their markup part of the taxable purchase price. The court reversed the court of appeals and remanded for consideration of the remaining appellate issues. Justice Hood concurred only in the judgment on the ground that the ordinance is unambiguous, while Justice Gabriel, joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Eid, would have held that the OTCs were not vendors and that their fees were not taxable.