SENATE, No. 293

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Senator GORMLEY

An Act concerning the collection of fees for the promotion of tourism, conventions, resorts and casino gaming in municipalities with convention center facilities supported by a local retail sales tax, amending P.L.1991, c.376.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Section 2 of P.L.1991, c.376 (C.40:48-8.46) is amended to read as follows:

    2. There is authorized to be imposed on and collected from hotels in an eligible municipality, fees for the promotion of tourism, conventions, resorts and casino gaming, if any, in the eligible municipality. The fees imposed pursuant to this section shall be separately stated to guests and shall not be included in the receipts subject to the taxes imposed under the "Sales and Use Tax Act," P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.) or the tax imposed under P.L.1947, c.71 (C.40:48-8.15 et seq.).

(cf: P.L.1991, c.376, s.2)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately and section 1 shall be retroactive to March 1, 1992 and apply to taxes uncollected since that date.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides that a hotel in an eligible municipality must separately state the tourism promotion fees to guests and that such fees are not includible in the taxable room rent for New Jersey sales and use tax and Atlantic City luxury tax purposes. The bill is retroactive to March 1, 1992, the first day of the first full month in which hotel rentals were subject to the tourism promotion fees, and applies to all taxes that are uncollected since that date.

    The fee authorized pursuant to the section being amended has not been collected to date. Because the authorization exists, however, there is some concern on the part of hotels in eligible municipalities that the Division of Taxation may anticipate higher sales and luxury tax proceeds from those hotels because of the existence of the fee authorization. Accordingly, it is the purpose of this bill to establish not only that the fee shall not be included in the taxable hotel bill prospectively, but that the hotels subject to the fee shall not be responsible for the additional uncollected taxes which otherwise would have been collected since March 1, 1992, the effective date of P.L.1991, c.376.

Requires certain hotel room fees to be separately stated to guests and not subject to certain sales taxes.