EXPEExpedia Group

Other participants Our OTA and alternative accommodation provider competitors are also increasingly expanding the range of travel services they offer, thereby further intensifying the competitive environment. In recent years, Airbnb has expanded into tours, activities, and hotel bookings, and discussed expansion into flight bookings, and Booking.com has expanded its flight booking services. Some competing metasearch websites have also looked to add various forms of direct or assisted booking functionality to their sites in the travel industry. Other direct competition with certain of our brands and other participants or existing competitors may begin to offer or expand other services to the travel industry that compete with the services we offer to our travelers, our travel industry affiliates and partners, or our corporate clients. For example, ride-sharing apps increasingly compete with traditional car rental services In other cases, our competitors and potential competitors offer a variety of online services, many of which are adding other transportation and experience offerings, and used by consumers more frequently than online travel services continue or have created "super-apps" where consumers can use such various services without leaving the company's app. A competitor that has established other, more frequent online or app-based interactions with consumers may be able to proliferate. To the extent any of these more easily or cost-effectively acquire customers for its online travel services gain market share over time, it may create additional competition and could negatively affect our businesses. than we can.

Cash used in financing activities in 2025 primarily included $1.9 billion of cash paid to acquire shares, including the repurchased shares under repurchase programs discussed below and for treasury stock activity related to the vesting of equity instruments, the February 2025 redemption of approximately $1 billion of the 6.25% Notes and cash dividend payments of $200 million, partially offset by the February 2025 issuance of the 5.4% Notes with net proceeds of $985 million and $50 million of proceeds from the exercise of options and employee stock purchase plans. Cash used in financing activities in 2024 primarily included payments of $1.8 billion of cash paid to acquire shares, including the repurchased shares under repurchase programs and for treasury stock activity related to the vesting of equity instruments, partially offset by $116 million of proceeds from the exercise of options and employee stock purchase plans. Cash used in financing activities in 2023 primarily included payments of $2.1 billion of cash paid to acquire shares, including the repurchased shares under repurchase programs discussed below and for treasury stock activity related to the vesting of equity instruments, partially offset by $101 million of proceeds from the exercise of options and employee stock purchase plans.

Some states and localities impose taxes (e.g. transient occupancy, accommodation tax, sales tax, and/or business privilege tax) on the use or occupancy of hotel accommodations or other traveler services. Generally, hotels collect taxes based on the room rate paid to the hotel and remit these taxes to the various tax authorities. When a customer books a room through one of our travel services, we collect a tax recovery charge from the customer which we pay to the hotel. We calculate the tax recovery charge by applying the applicable tax rate supplied to us by the hotels to the amount that the hotel has agreed to receive for the rental of the room by the consumer. In most jurisdictions, we do not collect or remit taxes, nor do we pay taxes to the hotel operator operator, on the portion of the customer payment we retain. Some jurisdictions have questioned our practice in this regard. While the applicable tax provisions vary among the jurisdictions, we generally believe that we are not required to collect and remit such taxes. A limited number of taxing jurisdictions have made similar claims against certain of our companies for tax amounts due on the rental amounts charged by owners of alternative accommodations properties or for taxes on our services. We are an intermediary between a traveler and a party renting a vacation property and we believe is are similarly not liable for such taxes. We are engaged in discussions with tax authorities in various jurisdictions to resolve these issues. Some tax authorities have brought lawsuits or have levied assessments asserting that we are required to collect and remit tax. The ultimate resolution in all jurisdictions cannot be determined at this time. We have established a reserve for the potential settlement of issues related to hotel occupancy and other taxes when determined to be probable and estimable. See NOTE 15 - Commitments and Contingencies for further discussion.

City of Charleston, South Carolina Litigation. On April 9, 2021, nine During 2021 and 2022, sixteen local governmental entities in South Carolina filed a lawsuit brought suit in state circuit court against HomeAway.com, Inc. and many other vacation rental listing companies. The complaint alleges the defendants failed to register with, and remit taxes and business license fees to, the plaintiffs as allegedly required by certain local accommodations tax and business license ordinances. The complaint further alleges claims for violation of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act. Plaintiffs purport to seek Act, and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, a legal accounting and damages. On May 27, 2021, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding five additional local government entities as plaintiffs. On September 24, 2021, plaintiffs filed a motion No date for leave to file a second amended complaint seeking to add, among other things, two additional local government entities as plaintiffs (which would bring the total number of plaintiffs to 16). The court granted that motion on March 25, 2022. On August 15, 2022, HomeAway.com, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, contractual undertaking, declaratory relief and injunctive relief causes of action and answered the remaining causes of action. On April 4, 2023, the court denied the motion. trial has been set.