Is Travel Agent Charging Sales Tax Legit?

[Soundview77]

For the first time in 20 years of cruising I used a travel agent to book a cruise as it is

a group cruise for special needs guests and I'm traveling with someone who will

benefit from that.

 

My initial invoice showed the price of the cruise + fees/port tax less my deposit,

no mention of sales tax.

 

My final invoice now shows sales tax on the cost of the cruise. I never had that

when I booked direct with the cruise line.

 

I am in New York, travel agent is in Florida, cruise line is Royal. Is the sales tax a legit charge?

[firefly333]

@Ourusualbeachmight know. I havent seen a additional taxes on top of the port fees and taxes. Maybe it's how it's broken out. It says a percentage tax on the cruisefare? What percentage?

[doghog]

15 minutes ago, Soundview77 said:

For the first time in 20 years of cruising I used a travel agent to book a cruise as it is

a group cruise for special needs guests and I'm traveling with someone who will

benefit from that.

 

My initial invoice showed the price of the cruise + fees/port tax less my deposit,

no mention of sales tax.

 

My final invoice now shows sales tax on the cost of the cruise. I never had that

when I booked direct with the cruise line.

 

I am in New York, travel agent is in Florida, cruise line is Royal. Is the sales tax a legit charge?

The TAs I've used, local and online (wherever they are located) haven't charged an additional sales tax. 

[c-leg5]

31 minutes ago, Soundview77 said:

For the first time in 20 years of cruising I used a travel agent to book a cruise as it is

a group cruise for special needs guests and I'm traveling with someone who will

benefit from that.

 

My initial invoice showed the price of the cruise + fees/port tax less my deposit,

no mention of sales tax.

 

My final invoice now shows sales tax on the cost of the cruise. I never had that

when I booked direct with the cruise line.

 

I am in New York, travel agent is in Florida, cruise line is Royal. Is the sales tax a legit charge?

Where are you sailing TO?

 

Shouldn’t your query be addressed to the TA to ask what/why they are charging extra?

Edited February 14 by c-leg5

[Soundview77]

Sailing to Cococay and Cozumel.

 

I will ask the TA but I thought I'd poll the audience first since there are

many members here that use a TA, I'd like to know if it's common practice

or not.

Edited February 14 by Soundview77

[Another_Critic]

May be the Bahamas Tourist Tax?

 

"The Bahamas government will also add a $5 environmental tax and $2 (£1.60) tourism enhancement tax for cruise guests.

 

Some cruise lines will include port fees in the cost of their package, while others will pass it on to guests as an additional charge.

 

The new charges will be introduced from January 1, 2024."

[Soundview77]

It's not the Bahamas Tourist Tax.

 

It's labeled as sales tax and it's in the several hundred dollar range.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I'm thinking it could just be that they're breaking it down because the extra on my invoice - at least on Celebrity - is "taxes, fees, and port expenses".

[Another_Critic]

23 minutes ago, Soundview77 said:

It's not the Bahamas Tourist Tax.

 

It's labeled as sales tax and it's in the several hundred dollar range.

Did the final price change or is it simply an additional breakdown of taxes/fees?

 

Also, is this on the travel agent invoice or RCI invoice?

 

My travel agent invoice lists: Fare 693.00 Taxes 538.94 Total 1,231.94

RCI invoice lists: Cruise Fare 1,113.00 Taxes/Fees/Port Expenses 118.94 Total 1,231.94

 

Edited February 14 by Another_Critic

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, Soundview77 said:

It's not the Bahamas Tourist Tax.

 

It's labeled as sales tax and it's in the several hundred dollar range.

Have you booked excursions on Cococay? Although several hundred $$ seems an excessive tax. Do you have a cabana?

Edited February 14 by c-leg5

[Soundview77]

I spoke with the travel agent.

 

The wording and breakdown of the second invoice to make final payment was different

than the original invoice, similar but more confusing as to what was mentioned in post #9.

 

It's all good. No sales tax.

 

Thank you to everyone who replied.

[c-leg5]

31 minutes ago, Soundview77 said:

I spoke with the travel agent.

 

The wording and breakdown of the second invoice to make final payment was different

than the original invoice, similar but more confusing as to what was mentioned in post #9.

 

It's all good. No sales tax.

 

Thank you to everyone who replied.

So the total amount was the same? Just broken down differently?

[Soundview77]

Yes.

 

I wasn't looking at the bottom line, .......got distracted by the breakdown being different than I expected.

[twangster]

I had a TA do something similar.  Then the crane fell on Oasis.  

 

What I discovered was that from Royal‘s perspective my cruise fare was that lower amount that the TA had identified as being the cruise fare and the sales tax amount was basically the agency commission, markup, profit and maybe a few other things.

 

This became important because when it came time to issue the 100% FCC that Royal offered for canceling the cruise when the crane fell on Oasis, my cruise fare was that lower amount and that was the basis of how Royal determined my FCC. Everyone else who booked on the website or a reputable TA received a much higher FCC while my FCC was lower because of the wholesale or whatever funky rate the TA used in obtaining my cruise fare.

 

The overall cruise total was correct, but the portion that Royal decided was the cruise fare was lower through this TA, and therefore my FCC was lower.