Purpose.

It is declared to be the purpose and intent of the General Assembly that:

(1) Each county and municipality in this state shall be authorized to levy certain excise taxes as hereinafter provided in this article; and

(2) Funds be made available for the purposes of promoting, attracting, stimulating, and developing conventions and tourism in the counties and municipalities and for the provision of other local government services. History. Ga. L. 1975, p. 1002, § 1; Code 1933, § 91A-6201, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1134, § 1. Law reviews. For article, “Online Travel Companies Find Issues with Hotels Extremely Taxing: Georgia’s Hotel-Motel Occupancy Excise Tax and Expedia, Inc. v. City of Columbus, T.J. Evans,” see 61 Mercer L. Rev. 1263 (2010). JUDICIAL DECISIONS Collection of taxes. — Although online travel companies were not operators of hotels, the companies actually collected excise taxes from hotel guests, and thus the companies were required to remit those taxes to applicable Georgia cities and counties pursuant to O.C.G.A. §§ 48-13-50 and 48-13-51. City of Rome v. Hotels.com, LP, No. 4:05-CV-249-HLM, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56369 (N.D. Ga. May 8, 2006), dismissed, 555 F. Supp. 3d 1314, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 250106 (N.D. Ga. 2021). In a city’s action wherein the city filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and other equitable remedies against an online travel company, the trial court did not err by requiring the company to collect tax payment obligations under the Enabling Statute, O.C.G.A. § 48-13-50 et seq., and a city’s ordinance via a permanent injunction. The company had contracted with the city to collect such taxes from the customers and was not an innkeeper; thus, the company was required to remit the taxes to the city. Expedia, Inc. v. City of Columbus, 285 Ga. 684, 681 S.E.2d 122, 2009 Ga. LEXIS 315 (2009). In a city’s action to recover unpaid occupancy taxes from several online travel companies pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 48-13-50 et seq., summary judgment for the companies was proper on the city’s conversion claim because the city failed to show that the money sought comprised a specific, separate, identifiable fund that belonged to it. City of Atlanta v. Hotels.com, L.P., 332 Ga. App. 888, 775 S.E.2d 276, 2015 Ga. App. LEXIS 423 (2015), cert. denied, No. S15C1762, 2015 Ga. LEXIS 701 (Ga. Oct. 5, 2015). Determination as to whether tax applied to online travel company had to be determined first. — Trial court erred by dismissing a city’s declaratory judgment action against several online travel companies for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and the appellate court erred by affirming the dismissal as the issue of whether the city’s ordinance allowing the city to collect a hotel occupancy tax from the online travel companies was a contested issue in the matter that neither lower court had determined. The legal question of whether the ordinance even applied to the online travel companies had to be determined before the city was required to submit to the administrative process set forth within the ordinance and the enabling statutes, O.C.G.A. § 48-13-50 et seq. City of Atlanta v. Hotels.com, L.P., 285 Ga. 231, 674 S.E.2d 898, 2009 Ga. LEXIS 96 (2009). Constructive trust. — In a city’s action to recover unpaid occupancy taxes from several online travel companies pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 48-13-50 et seq., summary judgment for the companies was proper on the city’s breach of constructive trust claim under O.C.G.A. § 53-12-132(a) because, under the law of the case, O.C.G.A. § 9-11-60(h), that claim had been rejected by the trial court and affirmed in a prior appeal. City of Atlanta v. Hotels.com, L.P., 332 Ga. App. 888, 775 S.E.2d 276, 2015 Ga. App. LEXIS 423 (2015), cert. denied, No. S15C1762, 2015 Ga. LEXIS 701 (Ga. Oct. 5, 2015). OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Imposition of tax by county and city. — “Hotel-Motel Tax” may not be imposed by both a county and a city within the boundaries of the city. 1993 Op. Atty Gen. No. U93-12. RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 71 Am. Jur. 2d, State and Local Taxation, §§ 22, 23. C.J.S. 84 C.J.S., Taxation, § 159 et seq.