Does a school owe Kansas sales tax on tickets to school dances and on t-shirts it sells to athletes, and are dinner-theatre group purchases taxable?

Plain-English summary

A school asked how Kansas sales tax applies to three things: tickets to school dances, t-shirts it sells to athletes, and purchases by a dinner-theatre group. The Department addressed each.

School dance tickets — taxable. K.S.A. 79-3603(e) taxes "the gross receipts from the sale of admissions to any place providing amusement, entertainment or recreation services." The Department advised that the school "would be obligated to collect the appropriate Kansas sales tax(es) on the sale of tickets to the school dances, since these respective tickets allow students admission into a facility which provides amusement, entertainment or recreation services."

T-shirt sales — taxable. K.S.A. 79-3603(a) taxes "[t]he gross receipts received from the sale of tangible personal property at retail within this state." So "[t]he sale of the t-shirts by the school to the football players/volleyball players would be subject to sales tax, pursuant to K.S.A. 79-3603(a)."

Dinner-theatre group purchases — taxable. "[T]he Kansas Retailers' Sales Tax Act does not contain an exemption from sales tax on purchases made by dinner theatre groups. Therefore, any purchases made by said group would be subject to any applicable sales tax(es) in this state."

Bottom line: dance-admission tickets are taxable admissions, athlete t-shirt sales are taxable retail sales of goods, and dinner-theatre group purchases have no exemption — all three are subject to Kansas sales tax.

What this means for you

Schools selling dance tickets

Charging admission to a school dance is a taxable admission under K.S.A. 79-3603(e). Collect and remit Kansas sales tax on those ticket sales; being a school does not make the admission exempt.

Schools selling merchandise

Selling t-shirts (or similar goods) to students or athletes is a taxable retail sale of tangible personal property. Collect tax on the sale price. The buyer being a student or team member does not exempt it.

Dinner-theatre and similar groups

There is no special Kansas exemption for a dinner-theatre group's purchases, so it pays sales tax like any other buyer. Don't assume an arts or performance group's purchases are exempt without a specific statutory basis.

Common questions

Q: Are tickets to a school dance subject to Kansas sales tax?
A: Yes. The Department ruled they are taxable admissions under K.S.A. 79-3603(e), because the tickets admit students to a place providing amusement, entertainment, or recreation.

Q: Does the school owe tax on t-shirts it sells to its athletes?
A: Yes. That is a taxable retail sale of tangible personal property under K.S.A. 79-3603(a).

Q: Are a dinner-theatre group's purchases exempt?
A: No. The Kansas Retailers' Sales Tax Act contains no exemption for dinner-theatre group purchases, so they are subject to applicable Kansas sales tax.

Citations and references

• K.S.A. 79-3603(e) — imposes sales tax on the gross receipts from admissions to any place providing amusement, entertainment, or recreation services; the basis for taxing the school-dance tickets.
• K.S.A. 79-3603(a) — imposes sales tax on the gross receipts from the retail sale of tangible personal property; the basis for taxing the school's t-shirt sales.

Source

• Landing page: Kansas Department of Revenue Policy Information Library
• Original document: P-1999-250

Original ruling text

Private Letter Ruling

Body:

Office of Policy & Research

November 22, 1998

TTTTTTTTTTT
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Dear Ms. TTTTT:

We wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 19, 1999, regarding the application of Kansas Retailers’ Sales tax.

This is a private letter ruling pursuant to K.A.R. 92-19-59.

K.S.A. 79-3603(e) imposes a sales tax upon: “the gross receipts from the sale of admissions to any place providing amusement, entertainment or recreation services. . .”

Please be advised that if the school would be obligated to collect the appropriate Kansas sales tax(es) on the sale of tickets to the school dances, since these respective tickets allow students admission into a facility which provides amusement, entertainment or recreation services.

K.S.A. 79-3603(a) imposes a sales tax upon: “The gross receipts received from the sale of tangible personal property at retail within this state. . .”

The sale of the t-shirts by the school to the football players/volleyball players would be subject to sales tax, pursuant to K.S.A. 79-3603(a).

In closing, the Kansas Retailers’ Sales Tax Act does not contain an exemption from sales tax on purchases made by dinner theatre groups. Therefore, any purchases made by said group would be subject to any applicable sales tax(es) in this state.

This response private letter ruling is based solely on the facts provided in your request. If it is determined that undisclosed facts were material or necessary to an accurate determination by the department, this ruling is null and void. This private letter ruling will be revoked in the future by the operation of law without further department action if there is a change in the statutes, administrative regulations, or case law, or published revenue ruling, that materially effects this private letter ruling.

If I may be of further assistance, please contact me at your earliest convenience at (785) 296-7776.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas P. Browne, Jr.
Tax Specialist

TPB

Date Composed: 11/29/1999 Date Modified: 10/11/2001

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