letter to U.S. Congress

January 10. 2007

The Honorable Daniel Inouye
Co-Chairman, United States Senate Committee
On Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Ted Stevens
Co-Chairman, United States Senate Committee
On Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Senators Inouye and Stevens:  

I am writing as the Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition to express our support for federal legislation that would prevent hotel occupancy charges from being levied on travel agency reservations fees.  

Such incremental taxes issued on top of already high occupancy tax rates would inevitably be passed on to business travelers, as would the considerable costs of compliance and remittance.  Importantly, the services travel management companies provide to client corporations as well as leisure travelers are completely separate from the room rent charged by hotel operators. 

The attempt to impose occupancy taxes on such services as if they were room rent is misguided, and if left unchecked, could have a profoundly negative effect on interstate commerce and on an innovative hotel distribution services which benefit consumers and local communities alike.  

Reducing unfair and counterproductive travel taxes is a top priority for the Business Travel Coalition.   We expect to pay reasonable service fees to agencies for facilitating our travel arrangements; we do not expect to pay unreasonable occupancy taxes on those fees.  A federal law that would stop this from happening would be a most welcome development for our members and for our industry.

Sincerely,  

Kevin Mitchell
Chairman