It’s a partnership that’s more natural than bananas and splits.
The tax hating TravelersFirst.com kicked off recently protesting all of the confusing and unnecessary taxes local/state/federal governments have been imposing on hotels in tourist destinations. Big cities, and little ones for that matter, have been raking tourists over the coals with surcharges, fees and then general disdain for tourists.
The group wants to see federal legislation to ban taxing online travel organizations as well as educate the public about what’s happening around them.
Now, Hotels.com — an online group of hotels with an obvious vested interest in stopping additional taxation — has agreed to join the fight with TravelersFirst.
While HipsterTravelGuide.com typically avoids politics, we have to agree with both of these groups. The idea of taxing online organizations may look good on paper — as it will bring more money into state/city/local/federal coffers to do whatever it is government does with money, but it will also mean your hotel, rental car, airline tickets, amusement park entrance fees, dinner and bar tab will cost you more — both when you hit a hot spot and while you’re home — as everyone lives in someone else’s tourist destination.
We view money as a means to travel and enjoy the world. We don’t see it as cash we’re holding, interest free, for any government. Yes, we need taxes, and need to pay them. But laying the tax burden on travelers is simply taxation without representation — no matter where you go.
We understand that travelers are easy targets for government, but every dime they take from us is 10 cents less we’ll spend on PBR, an extra night or another plane ticket. We’ll continue to travel, but it just won’t be places where we think we’re getting ripped off — by the places we go or even our own government.
