200809175L

September 19, 2008

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Dear ***********:

Thank you for your question concerning payment of hotel taxes by the Federal 
Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) on hotel rooms for Hurricane Ike 
evacuees.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, in proclamations dated September 12, 2008 and 
September 17, 2008, suspended the collection of state and local hotel occupancy 
tax, including venue project hotel tax, for victims of Hurricane Ike. The tax 
waiver is for a period beginning September 8, 2008 and ending October 27, 2008.

The hotel tax waiver applies to:  (1) persons with a home address in one of the 
counties mentioned in the Governor’s Hurricane Ike disaster declarations of 
September 8, 2008 and September 12, 2008; (2) relief workers dispatched to the 
counties mentioned in the Governor’s Hurricane Ike disaster declarations of 
September 8, 2008 and September 12, 2008; and (3) persons with a home address 
in a county or parish of another state that has been declared a Hurricane Ike 
disaster area by the governor of that state.

State and all local hotel occupancy taxes are therefore waived during this 
period for Hurricane Ike evacuees from declared disaster areas.

Should a person or organization that qualifies for the tax waiver, such as 
FEMA, not request to be exempt and purposefully pay tax to the hotel, the hotel 
must report the room receipts as taxable receipts on the Texas Hotel Occupancy 
Tax Report and remit the tax to the state.

Links to the September 8, 2008 and September 12, 2008 proclamations that 
suspended hotel, motel and venue taxes is on Texas Governor Rick Perry’s 
“Proclamations” Web page at http://governor.state.tx.us/news/proclamation/.

To claim exemption, Hurricane Ike victims should complete a Texas Hotel 
Occupancy Tax Exemption Certificate (form 12-302) by marking the box “Other” 
and stating on the certificate that the stay is due to Hurricane Ike. By doing 
so, the victim is attesting to the fact that he or she meets the qualifications 
of a victim of Hurricane Ike

This opinion is based on the facts presented. Other facts, though similar, may 
result in different answers.

Our goal is to provide you with prompt, professional service. Please take a 
moment to complete our on-line survey at 
http://aixtcp.cpa.state.tx.us/surveys/tpsurv2/index.html.

If you have further questions or need more information, please contact me.

Sincerely,


Donald S. Dillard
Oil & Gas, Fuels & Miscellaneous Taxes
Tax Policy Division
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
P.O. Box 13528
Austin, Texas  78711-3528
(512) 936-6171 (office)
(512) 475-0900 (fax)
donald.dillard@cpa.state.tx.us

 

ACCESSION NUMBER: 200809175L  
SUPERSEDED: N 
DOCUMENT TYPE: L  	
DATE: 09/19/2008  
TAX TYPE: HOTEL