This one had to hurt: Lawyers representing the District of Columbia, the U.S. capital, filed a lawsuit against major online travel agencies alleging millions of dollars in unpaid hotel taxes.
Washington, D.C., attracted 16 million visitors in 2009, according to the Associated Press, and the district alleges that the OTAs are illegally remitting taxes on the merchant rate they get from hotels instead of the retail rate they charge tourists and other travelers staying in the capital.
The OTAs have been lobbying for federal legislation to immunize themselves from the plethora of city and county lawsuits around the country over the hotel tax issue.
The defendants in the Washington, D.C., lawsuit include Priceline, Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and other OTAs.
The Interactive Travel Services Association expressed disappointment in the latest lawsuit, noting that the OTAs have won the majority of cases.
The OTAs say they are not subject to hotel taxes on the retail rate because they are not hotels and do not control the hotel rooms.