Retail sales and transient occupancy taxes; tax on room rentals, Destination Marketing Fund created.

Retail sales and transient occupancy taxes onroom rentals; Destination Marketing Fund created. Provides that retail sales and hotel taxes on transient room rentals shall becomputed on the basis of the total charges or the total price paidfor the use or possession of the room. For those cases in which ahotel or similar establishment contracts with an intermediary to facilitate the sale of the room and the intermediary charges the customerfor the room and such facilitation efforts, the bill requires theintermediary to separately state the taxes on the bill or invoiceprovided to the customer and to collect the taxes based upon thetotal charges or the total price paid for the use or possession ofthe room. The bill provides that tax revenue attributable to thecharge for the service provided by the intermediary, whether accruingto the state or a locality, shall be dedicated to destination marketing.The funds accruing to the state shall be deposited into the DestinationMarketing Fund, created in the bill. Half of such funds shall bedistributed by the Virginia Tourism Authority in the form of grantsto local tourism authorities and the other half shall be expendedby the Authority.