Pennsylvania Code › Title 61 - REVENUE › Part I - Department of Revenue › Subpart B - General Fund Revenues › Article II - Sales and Use Tax › Chapter 38a - HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX PRONOUNCEMENTS-STATEMENT OF POLICY › Section 38a.1 - Scope and application of Chapter 38-Hotel Occupancy Tax-statement of policy

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
Generally
. This section is issued by the Department to clarify
					 the scope and application of Chapter 38 (relating to Hotel Occupancy Tax).
					 Chapter 38 applies solely to the Hotel Occupancy Tax imposed by section 210 of
					 the TRC (72 P. S. §
												7210). The
					 regulations do not, and statutorily could not, apply to any hotel tax imposed
					 by any county government of this Commonwealth under other laws enacted by the
					 General Assembly.
(b)
Enabling statute for Hotel Occupancy Tax.
Under section 210 of
					 the TRC, the General Assembly has imposed "an excise tax of six per cent of the
					 rent upon every occupancy of a room or rooms in a hotel in this Commonwealth,
					 which tax shall be collected by the operator from the occupant and paid over to
					 the Commonwealth" as provided by the TRC. It is the responsibility of the
					 Department to collect for the Commonwealth all taxes imposed by Article II of
					 the TRC, including the Hotel Occupancy Tax. See
					 72
					 P. S. §§
												7270-7277 (relating to
					 enforcement and examinations).
(c)
Enforcement and regulatory responsibility with regard to Hotel
					 Occupancy Tax statute.
(1)
Enforcement
. As part of its responsibility to enforce and
					 administer the taxes imposed by Article II of the TRC, the Department is
					 authorized and empowered by section 270(a) of the TRC (72 P. S. §
													7270(a)) to prescribe rules
					 and regulations relating to the administration and enforcement of Article
					 II.
(2)
Exemptions
. Acting under its authority under section 270(a),
					 the Department promulgated Chapter 38. Section
					 38.1 (relating to imposition and
					 computation of tax) prescribes rules and methods for the imposition and
					 computation of the Hotel Occupancy Tax. Section
					 38.2 (relating to exemptions)
					 establishes certain exemptions from the Commonwealth's Hotel Occupancy Tax.
					 Under § 38.2, there are exemptions provided for permanent residents;
					 ambassadors, ministers and consular officers of foreign governments;
					 occupancies of hotel rooms by United States Government personnel; and
					 occupancies of hotel rooms by other exempt entities. See §
					 38.2(a)-(d).
(3)
Requirement.
(i) Having
					 listed in §
													38.2 the hotel occupancies exempt
					 from the Hotel Occupancy Tax, the Department included a final subsection
					 providing explicitly certain hotel occupancies that are not exempt from the
					 Hotel Occupancy Tax. Section
					 38.2(f) provides
					 as follows:
(f)
Others not exempt
. No person or entity
						other than those referred to in this section may be exempt from the Hotel
						Occupancy Tax. Occupancy by employees or representatives of the Commonwealth,
						its instrumentalities or political subdivisions, is not exempt from hotel
						occupancy tax, regardless of the nature of the business upon which the employee
						or representative is engaged, and regardless of the identity of the person or
						agency paying for the occupancy. Occupancy by employees or representatives of
						State credit unions is not exempt from the tax. Exemption from the sales and
						use tax portion of the TRC granted to persons, organizations or institutions,
						including exemptions granted to religious organizations, charities, educational
						institutions and the like, are not applicable to the Hotel Occupancy Tax, and
						those persons, organizations or institutions are required to pay tax upon their
						occupancy of hotel rooms.
(ii) As is true of all of Chapter 38, §
													38.2(f) applies
					 solely and exclusively to the Hotel Occupancy Tax imposed by section 210 of the
					 TRC and collected by the Department.