Under these contracts, the tour operator often guarantees that it will pay for some or all of the rooms

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE FINANCE AUDIT DIVISION NEW·YORK THE CITY OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE REVISED 01- 2 – HTX 9/28/01 STATEMENT OF AUDIT PROCEDURE AUDITS OF RESELLERS OF HOTEL ROOMS I. BACKGROUND The New York City Hotel Room Occupancy Tax ("HROT") applies to the occupancy of any room in a hotel in the City. The hotel operator is obligated to collect the tax and pay it over to the Department, however, if the operator does not collect and pay over the tax, the occupant of the room is obligated to pay the tax. The tax does not apply to a permanent resident, which is defined in section 12-01 of the Rules of the City of New York relating to the HROT as a person who has occupied or has had the right to occupy a room in a hotel for 180 consecutive days. If a person surrenders his or her occupancy during a 180-day period and then resumes occupancy, the person cannot qualify as a permanent resident based on that 180-day period. However, a person can qualify as a permanent resident notwithstanding the fact that the person changes rooms during the 180-day period provided the rooms are in the same hotel establishment. Section 12-01 provides in the definition of "occupancy" that a room can only be the subject of one taxable occupancy at a time. The definition of "operator" contained in that section provides that a person who "contracts away the use of a room ...