House Bill 1691, Laws of 1996;
House Bill 1847, 1998 Regular Session;
House Bill 1559, 1999 Regular Session
A tax of 3% is imposed on the gross proceeds (excluding charges for food, beverage, telephone, laundry and other similar charges) of hotels and motels from room rentals, and the gross proceeds of restaurants and bars derived from the retail sales of prepared food or alcoholic beverages including beer and light wine. The levy excludes the gross proceeds of non-taxable rooms, complimentary rooms, or room rentals for day meetings that do not serve as overnight sleeping accommodations and excludes the gross proceeds from complimentary sales of foods or beverages. This levy is in addition to all other taxes imposed. Effective October 1, 1996. No repeal date.
“Hotel” and “motel” means any establishment having 10 or more rooms, engaged in the business of furnishing or providing rooms intended or designed for lodging or sleeping purposes for transient guests, not including any hospital, convalescent or nursing home or sanitarium or any hotel-like facility operated by or in connection with a hospital or medical clinic providing rooms exclusively for patients and their families.
“Retail sales” means gross receipts (the term does not include complimentary rooms, food or beverages.)
“Restaurant” means any place, including hotel dining rooms, casinos, cafeterias, cafes and lunch stands, where prepared food and drink are sold for consumption either upon or off the premises, but does not include small grocery stores or service stations where the sale of prepared food constitutes less than 50% of the gross sales.
(Note: Rate was increased from 2% to 3% on hotels and from 1% to 3% on restaurants and bars effective July 1, 1999)