DOR: Meal, beverage, hotel tax collections increase in March

MEAL, BEVERAGE and hotel tax collections increased on a year-over-year basis in March, as well as fiscal year to date, the state Department of Revenue said on Monday. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
MEAL, BEVERAGE and hotel tax collections increased on a year-over-year basis in March, as well as fiscal year to date, the state Department of Revenue said on Monday. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

PROVIDENCE – Meal, beverage and hotel tax collections increased on a year-over-year basis in March, as well as fiscal year to date, the R.I. Department of Revenue said on Monday.

Year over year, local 1 percent meal and beverage tax collections rose 3.3 percent to $1.8 million in March. They also increased 6.5 percent to $17.4 million when comparing the first nine months of the fiscal year to the same period in 2014, the state agency said.

The tax is collected on the sale of a meal and or beverage prepared away from home and the amount of the tax is remitted, in full, to the municipality in which it was consumed.

Acting Director of Revenue David M. Sullivan said local meal and beverage tax collections showed “only modest growth” on a year-over-year basis, and that the fiscal year to date growth was 6.5 percent, less than the 6.9 percent growth reported for the same time period in February.
“It appears that the growth in local 1 percent meal and beverage tax collections is moderating as we approach the final quarter of the fiscal year. I hope that this is a temporary lull before the start of the summer season,” Sullivan said in a statement.

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Hotel collections rose 4 percent year over year to $166,480 in March, while they increased 7.8 percent to $2.6 million fiscal year to date compared with the previous fiscal year period.

Sullivan again described the year-over-year growth as “modest,” but said collections through March already were greater than what was collected through April last year.

The tax is collected on the rental of rooms in the state, and, like the meal and beverage tax, is remitted in full to the municipality where the room rental was located.

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