DOR: 5% hotel tax collections up in July

COLLECTION OF THE 5 percent hotel tax increased 5.1 percent year over year in July. The Omni Providence Hotel, pictured above, accounted for $117,051 in 5 percent hotel tax collection for the month. / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS
COLLECTION OF THE 5 percent hotel tax increased 5.1 percent year over year in July. The Omni Providence Hotel, pictured above, accounted for $117,051 in 5 percent hotel tax collection for the month. / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS

PROVIDENCE – Collection of the 5 percent hotel tax in Rhode Island in July was $3.06 million, an increase of 5.1 percent from July 2016’s collection of $2.91 million, according to the R.I. Department of Revenue Tuesday.

State hotel tax allocations shifted between July 2016 and July 2017, skewing year-over-year collection comparisons. Below is a chart of the allocations shift:

THE PERCENTAGE ALLOCATIONS for the 5.0 percent hotel tax in rhode Island changed at the beginning of the 2018 fiscal year. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
THE PERCENTAGE ALLOCATIONS for the 5 percent hotel tax in Rhode Island changed at the beginning of the 2018 fiscal year. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

Regional tourism districts:

Regional tourism districts were allocated $1.1 million in July 2017, a 7.3 percent decline in allocation year over year. However, the allocation percentage for regional tourism districts was reduced from 47 percent to 42 percent between the two months. Hosting platforms and room resellers accounted for $25,491 of regional tourism district allocation in July.

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Aquidneck Island received the most allocation of any tourism district in July at $554,539. Aquidneck Island 5 percent hotel tax collection increased 1.2 percent year over year.

Municipalities:

Municipalities collected $736,118 in July, an increase of 4.5 percent year over year, a $32,010 difference. Hosting platforms and room resellers tax collection accounted for $28,540 of tax allocated to municipalities in July.

Newport collected the largest allocation of 5 percent hotel tax in July at $233,579, a 19 percent increase year over year, or $37,215. Newport also experienced the largest nominal uptick in allocation collection in the state.

R.I. Commerce Corp.

The R.I. Commerce Corp.’s allocation percentage was increased from 21 percent to 28 percent from all hotels outside of Providence and Warwick, which have alternate percentage allocations.

In July, Commerce collected $887,410 from the 5 percent hotel tax, a 36.6 percent increase in collection year over year, accounting for $237,726. The expansion of the hotel tax to room resellers and hosting platforms allocated Commerce $52,674 in July.

Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau

The PWCVB collected $289,009 in July, a decline of 9.6 percent year over year, or $30,522. The bureau’s allocation percentage from hotels outside of Providence and Warwick declined from 7 percent to 5 percent between July 2016 and July 2017.


Other:

Providence hotels, excluding the Omni Providence Hotel, accounted for $437,218 in July, a 12.5 percent increase year over year. The Convention Authority of Providence was allocated $118,449 of the Providence hotel collection.

The Omni Providence Hotel accounted for $117,051 in July, an increase of 20.6 percent year over year. The Convention Authority of Providence was allocated $32,774 of the Omni Providence Hotel collection.

Warwick hotels accounted for $301,094 in July, a 0.8 percent decline year over year. The Warwick Department of Economic Development was allocated $83,817 of the Warwick hotel collection.

Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.

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