Alachua County, Petitioners v. Expedia, Inc., Respondents

Summary

The Court approved the First District's decision and held that Florida's Tourist Development Tax applies only to the transient rental rate set and received by the hotel, not to online travel companies' markup or service fees. Reading the relevant tax statutes together and applying their plain language, the Court concluded that the taxable privilege is exercised by the hotel and that the tax base is the amount the hotel requires for occupancy. Justice Pariente concurred in the result but viewed the statute as ambiguous and would have relied primarily on construing taxing ambiguity in favor of taxpayers; Justice Lewis, joined by Justice Polston, dissented and would have taxed the full amount paid to the online travel company.