Statewide Impact. Seventeen counties and four county tax collectors sued nine online travel companies, alleging the companies were not paying the full amount of a county tax on hotel occupancy. The companies argued they did not have to pay tax on the amount they kept as an intermediary in the reservation process because the tax was supposed to be levied on hotels rather than hotel guests. The trial court ruled for the online travel companies. So did the First District Court of Appeal, which also certified the legal question as one of great importance for this Court’s review.