Tax Included?
Movie tax: A ticket to fixing an inequality
go to original article ... or email me for article text
"I've actually seen two movies in the last month. I paid $6.50 for one I saw alone and $13 for the other movie I saw with a date. Out of 40 or so transactions on my credit card, these two were the only ones that ended in even dollars. In other words, no one was adding on the normal 7 percent sales tax. In fact, there is no sales tax on movie tickets at all.That's interesting. Did you know that there's no sales tax on movie tickets? At least not in North Carolina. I wonder if it's true everywhere else.
Essentially, seeing a movie in a theater has a tax advantage that is not shared by Blockbuster or Best Buy. Renting a movie or purchasing a DVD will incur the wrath of the sales tax, while actually going to the theater to see a movie will not."
I'd just like to point how sad it is that even with this competitive advantage, theaters are still being dominated by competitors who don't have it.
posted by Kobe @ 11:33 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Check your local sales tax regulations. You might be surprised to learn that theaters do, indeed, pay sales tax even if they do not appear to charge it.
For example, in the state of Florida, theaters pay sales tax on ticket sales. However, most theaters still show a price with an amount divisible by $0.25 and do not display any additional sales tax charges on the customer's receipt. A matinee price of $6.00 means the theater gets $5.63 and the state gets $0.37 (at the sales tax rate of 6.5% in my area).
All movie theaters pay taxes on admissions. They may be called by different names. In some areas it is sales tax, in some use tax, in some amusement tax, etc. For some reason many areas actually make it illegal for a movie theater to provide the information on what taxes are being paid by the consumer on the ticket (ie: Chicago) and the theatre would be fined for breaking that out for you. That being said many movie theaters do "cheat" on their taxes by deducting the amount paid as film rental to the film distributor from their taxable receipts.....this is kindof a grey area in many states so they take advantage of it.
In Texas there is sales tax. However, when theaters renovate their systems, they often do not upgrade their printing of tickets with the sales tax listed as before: such as in Tomball, TX. The reason this is of importance to the consumer (in Texas) is that sales tax is deductible, depending on if you have enough itemized deductions to use it, since Texas has no state income tax. If it is not printed on the ticket, how can you prove you paid it and how much? You should demand a receipt with the sales tax itemized, so you could deduct it, if you can. Also, you could call the State and talk to someone in the Sales Tax office.
In Texas there is sales tax. However, when theaters renovate their systems, they often do not upgrade their printing of tickets with the sales tax listed as before: such as in Tomball, TX. The reason this is of importance to the consumer (in Texas) is that sales tax is deductible, depending on if you have enough itemized deductions to use it, since Texas has no state income tax. If it is not printed on the ticket, how can you prove you paid it and how much? You should demand a receipt with the sales tax itemized, so you could deduct it, if you can. Also, you could call the State and talk to someone in the Sales Tax office.
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