In this case, the California Supreme Court will consider the following issue: When a customer books a hotel room through an online travel company, should the occupancy tax levied on the rent charged by the hotel be calculated based on the retail rate paid by the customer to obtain the right to use the room or on the wholesale amount that the hotel receives from the online travel company after that company has deducted its markup and fees?  CSAC has filed a brief outlining for the Court the importance of these revenues for many local governments, and explaining why the authorizing statutes allow calculating the amount on the full rent paid by the customer rather than the discounted rate paid by the online travel company.  CSAC’s brief was drafted by Michael Colantuono and Ryan Dunn at Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley in Los Angeles.