DOR: Meal, beverage, hotel tax collections rise in April

MEAL AND beverage tax collections rose 8.1 percent year over year in April and hotel tax collections jumped 21.3 percent during the same period, according to the state Department of Revenue.
MEAL AND beverage tax collections rose 8.1 percent year over year in April and hotel tax collections jumped 21.3 percent during the same period, according to the state Department of Revenue.

PROVIDENCE – Meal and beverage tax collections rose 8.1 percent year over year in April and hotel tax collections jumped 21.3 percent during the same period, according to the R.I. Department of Revenue.

The state agency, which released its fiscal 2015 Local 1 percent tax collections reports on Friday, said that meal and beverage tax collections increased 8.1 percent, to $1.9 million in April from $1.8 million in April 2014.

Meal and beverage tax collections also rose 6.6 percent, to $19.3 million from $18.1 million, when comparing the fiscal year period that ended in April to the previous fiscal year period.

The three communities with the largest nominal increase in local 1 percent meal and beverage tax collections between April 2015 and April 2014 were: Providence, $39,211; Cranston, $21,152; and East Greenwich.
The three communities with the largest nominal decrease in local 1 percent meal and beverage tax collections year over year in April were: North Kingstown, ($5,598); Jamestown, ($1,718); and Charlestown, ($1,180).

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Acting Director of Revenue David M. Sullivan said growth was “strong” on a year-over-year basis in April.

He also said that the fiscal 2015 year-to-date growth rate through April is 1.5 percentage points above the fiscal 2014 year-to-date growth rate through April, an increase of nearly 30 percent.

The local 1 percent meal and beverage tax is collected on the sale of a meal and beverage prepared away from home, and remitted in full to the municipality in which it was consumed.

Like the meal and beverage tax, the hotel tax is collected on the rental of rooms in the state and remitted in full to the municipality in which the room rental was located.

Hotel taxes brought in $201,477 in April, a 21.3 percent increase year over year, and $2.8 million, an 8.7 percent increase when comparing fiscal year over fiscal year.
“April showed an acceleration in local 1 percent hotel tax collections relative to March, a not surprising development as we enter the summer tourism season. More importantly, however, is that the strong April year-over-year results have boosted our fiscal year-to-date over fiscal year-to-date growth rate to a level we haven’t seen at this point in the fiscal year since April 2012,” Sullivan said.
Year over year, Pawtucket had the largest percentage increase in hotel tax collections in April at 255 percent, while Little Compton had the greatest percentage decrease at 63.6 percent.

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