On behalf of MTC's Legislative Committee, and in cooperation with the Maryland Hotel and Lodging Association, we write to ask for your support of Senate Bill 190 and House Bill 1065. Please contact your Senators/Delegates to ask them to support these bills that would close a sales and use tax loophole being exploited by online travel companies. 

Currently, hotels remit to the state more in sales taxes than online travel companies when selling the same room at the same price (see diagram below). This allows the online travel companies to pocket the difference ($1.20 in the example below), which adds up to millions of dollars each year in lost tax revenue for the state.

Despite what opponents claim, this legislation is not bad for Maryland tourism. Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Worcester Counties, as well as the City of Baltimore, have all closed occupancy tax loopholes in recent years, and all continue to see increases in annual tourism.

Unbelievably, the millions of Maryland dollars pocketed by online travel companies each year could, in turn, be used by them to market other locales in competition with Maryland destinations. This stands in stark contrast to the significant investment Maryland-based attractions have made, not only in infrastructure, employees and industry-related services, but also marketing our communities as great places to visit.

Travel and tourism is an economic engine in Maryland, annually generating over $15 billion in visitor spending, and over $2 billion in state and local taxes. In 2013, tourism was the 10th largest private sector employer with more than 138,500 direct tourism jobs, equating to a payroll of $4.6 billion.

Please support tourism in Maryland by supporting this important legislation.