The bill proposes amendments to Section 44-18-36.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-18, which pertains to "Sales and Use Taxes — Liability and Computation." The bill introduces a new insertion that specifies a hotel tax of five percent (5%) on the total consideration charged for occupancy in any hotel, travel package, or room reseller in the state, with an exemption for entire house, condominium, or other resident dwelling rentals. The bill also states that this hotel tax is in addition to any sales tax imposed and outlines the administration and collection procedures, which align with the provisions of chapters 18 and 19 of the title. It also clarifies the distribution of hotel tax receipts according to chapter 63.1 of title 42.

Furthermore, the bill introduces an additional local hotel tax of one percent (1%) and, specifically for the city of Newport, an extra local hotel tax of two and one-half percent (2.5%) to be used for public infrastructure and resiliency purposes. The local hotel tax will be administered and collected in accordance with the previously mentioned subsection (a). The bill also grants the city of Newport the authority to collect and distribute the tax imposed by subsection (a) and to recover delinquent hotel taxes, with the collected taxes constituting a lien on the taxpayer's real property. The act would take effect upon passage and includes a provision for the city of Newport to report on the tax collected and distributed semi-annually.

Statutes affected:
3033: 44-18-36.1