Re:San Francisco Hotels Are World’s Priciest as Rates Surge
by johansch on Wednesday July 01, 2015 @04:09PM
(#9814791)
There typically aren't any lodging taxes. The VAT varies, but hovers around 19-25% (per country).
Your answer doesn't make sense though. Laws around price display need to be consumer-centric, not provider-centric. Why should a place in a high-tax location be able to compete with a place in a low-tax location by fooling the customer?
In most cases it's because local lodging taxes are insanely high. I regularly see e.g. $65 rooms bumped up to close to $100. (I haven't stayed in SF, but it would surprise me if it's an exception.)
Are European taxes set at a national level? In USA the relevant taxes are set by each city and county, so by hiding the tax, highly-taxed hotels can better compete with those in the next town over.
EDIT: don't expect anything to be good for the consumer!