Providence, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Department of Revenue today released its FY 2017 Local 1.0 Percent Hotel Tax Collections Report for July 2016. The Local 1.0 Percent Hotel Tax Collections Report, which is issued on a monthly basis, compares the collections from the state's local 1.0 percent hotel tax on a month-to-month, year-over-year, and fiscal year-to-date over fiscal year-to-date basis. The local 1.0 percent hotel tax is collected on the rental of rooms in the state and remitted, in full, to the municipality in which the room rental was located.
Expansion of the Local 1.0 Percent Hotel Tax Base The July 2016 report includes the local 1.0 percent hotel tax collections generated by the rental of lodging via hosting platforms and by on-line travel companies (room resellers) and vacation home rentals by homeowners and realtors for all municipalities other than the City of Newport. The local 1.0 percent hotel tax collections from these rentals for all municipalities other than the City of Newport covers the period of July 2016 but not July 2015. For the City of Newport, local 1.0 percent hotel tax collections from these rentals covers only July 2015 and not July 2016.
The findings of the July 2016 Local 1.0 Percent Hotel Tax Collections Report on a statewide basis are summarized in the table below: Period of Comparison July 2016 June 2016 Nominal Difference Percentage Difference Month-to-Month $ 685,792 $ 419,452 $ 266,339 63.5 % Period of Comparison July 2016 July 2015 Nominal Difference Percentage Difference Year-over-Year $ 685,792 $ 582,496 $ 103,295 17.7 % Fiscal YTD-over-Fiscal YTD 685,792 582,496 103,295 17.7 % Highlights from the report as noted by Director of Revenue Robert S. Hull were • Local 1.0 percent hotel tax collections were up significantly between July and June 2016, growing at a rate of 63.5 percent; o July 2016 cash collections include $112,374 in receipts attributable to the local 1.0 percent hotel tax base expansion vs. $12,428 accounted for in June 2016; • Year-over-year and fiscal year-to-date over fiscal year-to-date increase in local 1.0 percent hotel tax collections for July 2016 was strong at 17.7 percent and below the 24.9 percent year-over-year increase posted in July 2015; o Year-over Year and Year-to-date FY 2017 local 1.0 percent hotel tax collections through July incorporate $112,374 of receipts generated from the local 1.0 percent hotel tax base expansion vs. $5,255 recorded in July 2015.
The entire report can be found on the Department of Revenue's web site at http://www.dor.ri.gov/revenue-analysis/2017.php under the Local Reports tab. The full report includes the break down by municipality of local hotel tax collections on a month-to-month, year-over-year, and fiscal year-to-date over fiscal year-to-date basis.
Questions or comments on the report should be directed to Paul Grimaldi, Chief of Information and Public Relations by e-mail at paul.grimaldi@revenue.ri.gov or by phone at (401) 574-8766.