Expedia obtains dismissal of City of Atlanta's claims for back taxes and penalties

Client(s) Expedia, Inc.

Jones Day obtained dismissal of claims brought by the City of Atlanta for back taxes, penalties, and attorneys fees against Expedia, Inc. and its affiliates. The case involved a dispute over how to apply hotel occupancy tax to hotel transactions facilitated by Online Travel Companies such as Expedia. After the Georgia Supreme Court resolved how the tax should apply, Atlanta pursued an award of back taxes and penalties for transactions conducted before the Court's ruling. Jones Day successfully argued that no such award was authorized by the pertinent statute and that Atlanta's common law claims all failed as a matter of law. The Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, dismissed Atlanta's claims in two separate summary judgment orders, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

City of Atlanta v. Hotels.com, et al., No. 2006-CV-114732 (Super. Ct., Fulton Cty., Ga.); 289 Ga. 323 (2011); No. A15A0117 (Ga. App.)