Were event tour packages combining tickets and bus or charter-air transportation subject to Connecticut sales and use tax?

Plain-English summary

X Corporation sold packages combining admission to events such as rock concerts with transportation, usually by bus and sometimes by chartered flight. It supplied only the tickets and passenger services -- not lodging, meals, memorabilia, event promotion, or primary ticket-agent services. It bought every component at retail and paid the applicable sales and admissions taxes.

DRS ruled that the package sale was not subject to sales and use tax. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407(2)(a) defined a taxable sale around transfers of tangible personal property, while the Department treated a concert ticket as an intangible right under Dine Out Tonight Club. Because X Corporation already paid applicable admissions tax when it bought the ticket, its later resale had no additional admissions-tax consequence under the ruling.

The ruling separately noted that if a certificated air carrier supplied charter service, the carrier was responsible for charging sales and use tax to X Corporation.

What this means for you

The historical result depended on X Corporation's limited role and its purchase of all components at retail with applicable taxes already paid. A package involving lodging, meals, merchandise, event promotion, or a different transportation arrangement was not decided.

Common questions

Did the event ticket count as tangible property? No. DRS treated it as an intangible right.

Did the seller provide lodging or meals? No. The facts expressly excluded lodging, meals, and memorabilia.

Who handled tax on a chartered flight? A certificated air carrier providing the charter would charge sales and use tax to X Corporation.

Citations and references

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407(2)(a).
• Dine Out Tonight Club v. Department of Revenue Services, 210 Conn. 567, 572 (1989).

Source

• Landing page: Connecticut DRS Rulings
• Ruling: Ruling 90-48

Original ruling text

Ruling 90-48, Intangible Property

Ruling 90-48

Intangible Property

ISSUE PRESENTED:

Whether the sales of tour packages, which include tickets to an event and transportation, are subject to the sales and use tax.

FACTS:

X Corporation sells tour packages comprised of transportation to and attendance at events such as rock events. Transportation usually includes bus transportation and, on occasion, chartered flights. X Corporation provides tickets and passenger services only. It does not act as a promoter or primary ticket agent of a concert facility. X Corporation does not provide lodging, meals or memorabilia. X Corporation purchases all the components of its packages at retail and pays all corresponding sales taxes and admissions tax when and where applicable.

RULING:

Section 12-407(2)(a) defines "sale" as meaning "any transfer of title, exchange or barter, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, of tangible personal property for a consideration." The Department considers the sale of a concert ticket to constitute the sale of an intangible right which is not subject to our sales tax. See Dine Out Tonight Club v Department of Revenue Services 210 Conn. 567, 572 (1989). Since X Corporation has already paid the applicable admissions tax upon the purchase of the ticket, there are no admissions tax consequences in the subsequent resale of the ticket between X Corporation and its customer. If a "certificated air carrier" provides chartering service, such certificated air carrier would be responsible to charging sales and use tax to X Corporation.

It is ruled that the sales of tour packages by X Corporation, including tickets to an event and transportation, are not subject to sales and use tax.

James F. Meehan

Commissioner

May 14, 1990