Brevard County has sued online travel sites Priceline.com Inc., Orbitz, Inc. and Expedia Inc. for what it claims are millions of dollars in unpaid tourist taxes. The web sites buy rooms at discounted wholesale rates from Space Coast hotels and motels, then sell them to customers at higher retail prices, keeping the difference as profit. Local hotel and motel owners pay Tourist Development Tax on their wholesale transactions. But the Web sites have not paid taxes on the difference charged to customers -- although they do factor the value of the tax into their prices. Brevard's lawsuit also names several other online merchants including Travelocity.com LP, Hotwire, Inc., Hotels.com and Travelweb Ltda. as 'unjustly enriching' themselves by not paying the 5% tourist development tax from their sales. Online companies have said they shouldn't have to pay hotel-room taxes, because they don't own any hotels. The county also seeks penalties and attorneys fees.

A group of online travel services companies plans to appeal a $20 million verdict awarded to more than 170 Texas cities in a dispute over hotel occupancy taxes. The 2006 class-action lawsuit was brought by cities wanting to collect tourism tax revenue they alleged was underpaid by Internet hotel room wholesalers. San Antonio and other Texas cities alleged the online companies booked blocks of rooms at, for example, $75 a night, resold them for $100, then paid taxes on the lower rate. Jurors found the companies controlled hotels under the cities' ordinances and should have paid hotel occupancy taxes on the amounts they charged. The verdict was returned Friday in San Antonio, where the suit was originally filed. The 11 companies sued included Expedia Inc., Travelocity, Hotwire Inc., Hotels.com LP, Priceline.com Inc. and Orbitz Inc.. They contended they do not control the hotels because they don't control the actual building and that they paid all the taxes due to the cities.

Priceline.com Inc. announced the availability of the Hotel Negotiator App on the App Store. The app, which features The Priceline Negotiator (William Shatner), lets travelers use iPhone or iPod touch to quickly find and book last-minute hotel rooms using priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(R) hotel service and save up to 50% over published hotel rates. Hotel Negotiator App is designed for travelers who are on the road or at an airport and decide at the last minute that they need a room for the night. The app also works for travelers who prefer to make their hotel arrangements after they've arrived in a city and have become familiar with the geography. Hotel Negotiator lets them use their iPhone or iPod touch to quickly negotiate the price and book a room from priceline.com's comprehensive assortment of quality hotel rooms up until 11:00 p.m. ET on the night they need the room.