How can I have a BIR certificate of Tax Exemption?

Does the "Certificate of Government Exemption from the Payment of Hotel Lodging Taxes" apply to parish taxes?

• I work at a hotel in Louisiana. We have 3 taxes that apply to all rooms: 1) State, 2) Parish, and 3) Hotel / Motel. Our employer wants us to make sure we "only" exempt the guest from the taxes mentioned on the form. I usually only exempt from State taxes for this form because the beginning of the form states: "...for use by employees...in documenting eligibility for exemption from payment of state sales taxes on hotel lodging charges..." However, I am a bit confused about the very last statement on the form which states: "This form is not valid to document exemption from the payment of local room occupancy taxes." Does this mean it does not exempt them from Parish taxes or City taxes (we do not have city taxes but if I'm not mistaken I think some areas do), or both? The most recent guest that presented the form said it is suppose to apply to State and Parish but not the Hotel / Motel (we never exempt from the Hotel / Motel tax because it is more of a fee then a tax) So I'm not sure which is correct. I did not apply the parish tax since he said this, but I want to be sure before he checks out. I also do not want to get into trouble with my employer. For reference, this form can be found here >> http://www.lsus.edu/acctserv/documents/hoteltaxexempt.pdf Thanks for your help.

• Answer:

  your questionable statement says, "local room occupancy taxes" so what are LOCAL taxes? it would seem to mean from the verbage that local taxes are not exempt