COVID CRISIS - COLLEAGUE CORNER

Question: Can lodging partners postpone paying their hotel motel tax during this crisis?

Input: The ability to suspend collections would need to be specified in your local ordinance and, thus, would need to be a determination from local legal counsel (the City/County Attorney). There are some jurisdictions in which the Mayor/Commission Chair is empowered to suspend collections through an emergency declaration or similar executive order, but the authority to do so would need to be an interpretation from the locality’s legal counsel. The tax is paid by the individual paying for the room – “The tax shall be a debt of the person obtaining the room, lodging, or accommodation to the person or entity providing such room, lodging, or accommodation until it is paid and shall be recoverable at law by the person or entity providing such room, lodging, or accommodation in the same manner as authorized for the recovery of other debts.” (OCGA 48-13-51(a)(1)(B)(ii)). The excise tax is not a tax being paid by the hotel/lodging operator, but rather is paid by the consumer in which the hotel is the collection agent/intermediary for remittance of the HMT. Once collected by the hotel/establishment, there is an obligation to remit these funds to the city/county. Should the tax be suspended (which, as mentioned above, would need to be a determination by the City/County Attorney), the hotel/lodging establishment would stop collecting the tax from the consumer. That is, this would not be “found revenue” for the hotel, as the hotel is not the entity being taxed and any outstanding collections the hotel still has in hand would still need to be remitted to the city/county. Once remitted to the City/County government, there is no current suspension of the statewide requirements for restricted spending, as directed by the jurisdiction’s authorization paragraph. That is, the typical restrictions on HMT spending as dictated by statute remain in place.

 

Question: Due to the Coronavirus circumstances, is there any flexibility on when the restricted hotel motel tax funds must be spent? 

Input: In regard to the use of restricted hotel-motel excise tax funds, DCA is not an auditing or enforcement agency. Local governments are expected to spend these funds in compliance with their respective authorization paragraphs (found in statute at OCGA 48-13-51). If a formal complaint is filed against a local government for not meeting those requirements, DCA will conduct a preliminary investigation with a subsequent determination by the Hotel-Motel Tax Performance Review Board and DCA Commissioner regarding inappropriate use and remediation practices. Our advice to local governments – and their DMO(s) – is to familiarize yourself with your authorization paragraph and consult with your jurisdiction’s legal counsel to make sure that all spending is being done in compliance with state code.

 

Question: Are front line medical workers eligible for any additional discounts at hotels considering they are not government employees?

Input: No - only if they are government employees. 

 

Question: What has been the estimated Coronavirus impact on the Georgia restaurants industry?

Input: See this State of the State Georgia Restaurants document provided by Georgia Restaurants Association (GRA) (4/30/2020)