Expedia, Other Sites Escape $34 Million in Arkansas Hotel Taxes

Expedia Inc., Priceline.com Inc., and other online travel companies convinced the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday to overturn a $34 million damages award to a class of municipalities seeking hotel taxes.

The companies weren’t subject to state gross receipts tax, local gross receipts tax, state tourism tax, and local tourism tax before 2019, the court held. “The OTCs do not own, operate, or manage lodging establishments; rather, they are accommodations intermediaries,” Chief Justice John Dan Kemp wrote for the unanimous court.

A 2019 amendment that expressly included an “accommodations intermediary” as a taxable entity proves they weren’t previously ...