Failure to collect taxes; punishment.

(b) In addition to the penalty of being liable for and paying the tax himself or herself, any person who violates subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.00 or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than three months, or both. History. Code 1981, § 48-13-59, enacted by Ga. L. 2000, p. 1325, § 4. JUDICIAL DECISIONS 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). OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Fingerprinting of offenders not required. — Violation of O.C.G.A. § 48-13-59 is not an offense designated as one that requires fingerprinting. 2000 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2000-11. RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. Obligation of online travel companies to collect and remit hotel occupancy taxes, 61 A.L.R. 6th 387.