The D.C. Court of Appeals secured what could possibly be the largest tax settlement ever paid to the city’s coffers.
The court ruled Thursday to uphold a $60 million payment from seven of the country’s largest travel websites, The Washington Post reports.
The companies, which included Orbitz, Priceline, Hotwire, Travelscape, Expedia, Hotels.com and Travelocity, owed the city millions in unpaid taxes because they charged customers more money for taxes than they reimbursed to D.C. tax collectors.
The case began back in 2011 when the D.C. tax office realized the travel companies were paying taxes based on the wholesale booking rates negotiated with the hotels, not on the full amount customers actually paid.
The city wanted to collect the entire $200 million in taxes the travel companies owed it, based on a 14.5 percent hotel tax on rooms, but in 2014 agreed to the $60 million settlement.
The companies appealed that settlement, but lost.
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