Collector: includes any person entrusted with the collection of public revenue. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Consideration: means the consideration charged, whether or not received, for the occupancy in a hotel valued in money, whether to be received in money, goods, labor or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits, property and services of any kind or nature without any deduction therefrom whatsoever. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1401
Hotel: means any structure or space, or any portion thereof, that is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes, and includes privately, publicly, or government-owned hotels, inns, tourist camps, tourist courts, tourist cabins, motels, short-term rental units, primitive and recreational vehicle campsites and campgrounds, or any place in which rooms, lodgings, or accommodations are furnished to transients for consideration. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1401
Municipality: means an incorporated city or town or a county, but does not include a county with a metropolitan form of government. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1401
Occupancy: means the use or possession, or the right to the use or possession, of any room, lodgings or accommodations in any hotel. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1401
Operator: means the person operating the hotel, whether as owner, lessee or otherwise. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1401
Transient: means any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy of any rooms, lodgings or accommodations in a hotel for a period of less than thirty (30) continuous days. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1401
(1) A municipality may levy, modify, or repeal a privilege tax upon the privilege of occupancy in a hotel by ordinance or resolution subject to the restrictions of this part.(2) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a)(3), the tax levied by a municipality upon the privilege of occupancy in a hotel must not exceed four percent (4%) of the consideration charged to a transient by the hotel operator.(3) Subject to § 67-4-1414, a tax upon the privilege of occupancy in a hotel levied or authorized before July 1, 2021 by a municipality that exceeds the limit set in subdivision (a)(2) remains in full force and effect.(b) This section does not void or modify a private act, ordinance, or resolution levying or authorizing the levy of a tax upon the privilege of occupancy in a hotel that existed on or before July 1, 2021, except as provided in § 67-4-1414.(c)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (c)(5), as a preliminary step toward pursuing any remedy available to the authorized collector by law to collect any taxes due or delinquent under an ordinance imposing a tax on the privilege of occupancy in a hotel, the authorized collector may publish a notice in accordance with subdivision (c)(2) that lists the name of each operator who has failed to collect or remit the tax due or delinquent and the amount of the tax due or delinquent, if:
(A) The amount of the tax due or delinquent exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and has been due or delinquent for one hundred twenty (120) days or more; or(B) The amount of the tax due or delinquent exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).(2) Any municipality that elects to publish a notice as authorized by subdivision (c)(1) shall cause the notice to be inserted, once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in the month of January, in a newspaper of general circulation as defined in § 2-1-104 or one (1) or more newspapers published or widely distributed in the municipality; provided, that if no newspaper is published in the municipality, the notice shall be posted on the courthouse door.(3) The cost of publication shall be paid by the municipality.(4) To the extent there is a conflict between this subsection (c) and any ordinance that imposes a tax on the privilege of occupancy in a hotel, this subsection (c) shall govern. The legislative body of any municipality, by ordinance, is authorized to modify the provisions of any ordinance enacted prior to April 14, 2016, that conflict with this subsection (c).(5) An operator’s name and amount of tax due or delinquent shall not be listed on any notice published pursuant to subdivision (c)(1) if all or any portion of the tax is at issue in a suit filed by the operator challenging the collection or assessment of the tax.
