Chapter 3.32
ADMISSIONS TAX
Sections:
3.32.030 Price to be shown on ticket.
3.32.040 Collection and remittance of tax.
3.32.050 Temporary or transitory amusements, entertainments or exhibitions.
3.32.060 Administration and enforcement.
3.32.010 Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
“Admission charge,” in addition to its usual and ordinary meaning, shall include a charge made for season tickets or subscriptions, a cover charge or a charge made for use of seats and tables, reserved or otherwise, and similar accommodations; a charge made for food and refreshments in any place where any free entertainment, recreation or amusement is provided, a charge made for rental or use of equipment or facilities for purposes of recreation or amusement, and where the rental of the equipment or facilities is necessary to the enjoyment of the privilege for which a general admission is charged, the combined charge shall be considered as the admission charge.
“Person” means any individual, receiver, assignee, firm, copartnership, joint venture, corporation, company, joint stock company, association, society, or any group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal, nonprofit or otherwise.
“Place” means and includes theatres, but is not restricted to, theatres, dance halls, amphitheatres, auditoriums, stadiums, athletic pavilions and fields, baseball and athletic parks, circuses, side shows, swimming pools, outdoor amusement parks, and such attractions as merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels, dodge ’ems, roller coasters and observation towers.
“Treasurer” means the town treasurer. (Ord. 1A § 1, 1943)
3.32.020 Tax imposed.
A. There is levied and imposed upon every person (including children, without regard to age) who pays an admission charge to any place, including a tax on persons who are admitted free of charge or at reduced rates to any place for which other persons pay a charge or a regular higher charge for the same or similar privileges or accommodations, which said tax shall be in the amount of one cent for each twenty cents or fraction thereof paid for the admission charge.
B. Whenever the admission charge is ten cents or less, no tax shall be payable, nor shall any tax be payable by any bona fide employee of the place or by any federal, state or municipal officer or employee on official visits, or by any newspaper reporter, or by any child under twelve (12) years of age, who is admitted free.
C. Whenever any person is admitted free or at reduced rates to any place at a time when under circumstances where an admission charge is made to other persons for the same or similar accommodations, a tax shall be payable by the person so admitted in an amount equal to the tax payable by such other persons for the same or similar accommodations.
D. Whenever the charge to women and children for admission to any place is less than the charge made to men, or when such persons are regularly admitted free, the lesser charge is not deemed to be a reduced rate under this chapter, and the amount of the tax payable hereunder by such persons shall be determined by the amount of the actual admission charge paid.
E. Amounts paid for admission by season ticket or subscription shall be exempt only if the amount which would be charged to the holder or subscriber for a single admission is ten cents or less.
F. Whenever tickets or cards of admission are sold elsewhere than at the ticket or box office of the place, any price or charge made in excess of the established price or charge therefor at such ticket or box office shall be taxable in a sum equal to ten (10) percent of the amount of such excess, which tax shall be in addition to the tax on the ticket or box office admission charge, and shall be paid by the person paying the admission charge, and shall be collected and remitted in the manner provided by subsection G of this section by the person selling such tickets.
G. Any person having the permanent use of boxes or seats or a lease for the use of any box or seat in any place for which an admission charge is made, in lieu of the tax imposed herein, shall pay a tax equivalent to ten (10) percent of the amount for which a similar box or seat is sold for each performance or exhibition at which the box or seat is used or reserved by or for the lessee or holder, the same to be collected and remitted in the manner provided in Section 3.32.040 of this chapter by the owner or operator of the place. (Ord. 1A § 2, 1943)
3.32.030 Price to be shown on ticket.
The price (exclusive of the tax to be paid by the person paying for admission) at which every admission ticket or card is sold shall be conspicuously and indelibly printed or written on the face or back of that part of the ticket which is to be taken up by the management of the place to which admission is gained; and it is unlawful for any person to sell an admission ticket or card on which the name of the vendor or the price is not so printed, stamped or written, or to sell an admission ticket or card at a price in excess of the price printed, stamped or written thereon. (Ord. 1A § 3, 1943)
3.32.040 Collection and remittance of tax.
Every person receiving any payment for admissions on which a tax is levied under this chapter shall collect the amount of the tax imposed from the person making the admission payment. The tax required to be collected under this chapter shall be deemed to be held in trust by the person required to collect the same until paid to the treasurer as herein provided. Any person required to collect the tax imposed under this chapter who fails to collect the same, or, having collected the same, fails to remit the same to the treasurer in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure be the result of his own act or the result of acts or conditions beyond his control, shall nevertheless be personally liable to the town for the amount of such tax, and shall, unless the remittance be made as herein required, be guilty of a violation of this chapter. The tax imposed hereunder shall be collected at the time the admission charge is paid by the person seeking admission to any place and shall be reported and remitted by the person receiving the tax to the treasurer in bimonthly installments and remittances therefor on or before the fifteenth day of the month next succeeding the end of the bimonthly period in which the tax is collected or received; provided, that the first return and remittance under this chapter shall be made on or before September 15th, 1943, and shall cover the period from and including the date this chapter takes effect, to and including August 30, 1943. Payment remittance of the tax collected may be made by check, unless payment or remittance is otherwise required by the treasurer, but payment by check shall not relieve the person collecting the tax from liability for payment and remittance of the tax to the treasurer unless the check is honored and is in the full and correct amount. The person receiving any payment for admissions shall make out a return upon such forms and setting forth such information as the treasurer may require, showing the amount of the tax upon admissions for which he is liable for the preceding bimonthly period, and shall sign and transmit the same to the treasurer with a remittance for said amount; provided, that the treasurer may in his discretion require verified annual returns from any person receiving admission payments setting forth such additional information as he may deem necessary to determine correctly the amount of tax collected and payable. The books, records and accounts of any person collecting a tax herein levied shall, as to admission charges and tax collections, be at all reasonable times subject to examination and audit by the treasurer. (Ord. 1A § 4 (part), 1943)
3.32.050 Temporary or transitory amusements, entertainments or exhibitions.
A. Whenever any theatre, circus, show, exhibition, entertainment or amusement makes an admission charge which is subject to the tax herein levied, and the same is of a temporary or transitory nature, of which the treasurer shall be the judge, the treasurer may require the report and remittance of the admission tax immediately upon the collection of the same, at the conclusion of the performance or exhibition, or at the conclusion of the series of performances or exhibitions or at such other times as the treasurer shall determine; and failure to comply with any requirement of the treasurer as to report and remittance of the tax as required shall be a violation of this chapter.
B. Whenever a temporary or transitory amusement, entertainment or exhibition is operated or conducted by persons who are not the owners, lessees or custodians of the building, lots or place where the amusement is to be conducted, the tax imposed by this chapter shall be reported and remitted as provided in Section 3.32.040 of this chapter by said owner, lessee or custodian, unless paid by the person conducting the place. (Ord. 1A §§ 4 (part), 5, 1943)
3.32.060 Administration and enforcement.
The treasurer shall have power to adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with the terms of this chapter for carrying out and enforcing the payment, collection and remittance of the tax herein levied; and a copy of said rules and regulations shall be on file and available for public examination in the treasurer’s office. Failure or refusal to comply with any such rules and regulations shall be deemed a violation of this chapter. (Ord. 1A § 6, 1943)
3.32.070 Violation—Penalty.
Each violation of or failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense and shall subject the offender to a fine of not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) or to imprisonment in the town jail for not to exceed thirty (30) days, or to both such fine and imprisonment. (Ord. 1A § 8, 1943)