Were entrance charges to antique, craft, boat, home, gun, car, recreational-vehicle, sportsman, and similar shows open to the public subject to South Carolina admissions tax?

Plain-English summary

South Carolina Revenue Ruling 89-8 concluded that paid entry to antique, craft, boat, home, gun, car, recreational-vehicle, sportsman, and similar shows was subject to the state's former admissions tax when the shows were open to the public.

The typical arrangement involved a promoter or association leasing an auditorium or similar facility, providing individual booth space to vendors, inviting the general public, and charging each person at the entrance.

The ruling treated the show as a place of amusement. The presence of retail vendors—or an additional business, educational, or other purpose—did not remove the admission charge from the tax.

How the former admissions tax worked

Former section 12-21-2420 imposed a 4% tax on paid admissions to places of amusement in South Carolina.

The person paying the admission bore the tax, while the person collecting the admission price had to collect and remit it to the South Carolina Tax Commission.

Former section 12-21-2410 defined:

• an “admission” as the right or privilege to enter or use a place or location;
• a “place” as a definite enclosure or location; and
• a “person” broadly to include individuals, partnerships, corporations, associations, and organizations.

The statute did not define “amusement,” so the ruling applied its ordinary meaning.

Why public shows were places of amusement

Using dictionary definitions, the ruling described amusement as pastime, diversion, enjoyment, entertainment, relaxation, or pleasure. A place of amusement therefore included an enclosure or location offering an activity that occupied spare time, distracted the mind, relaxed, entertained, or gave pleasure.

The ruling also relied on Radcliff v. Query, where the South Carolina Supreme Court said the admissions-tax statute was broad enough to include all classes of public exhibitions.

Because the listed shows were open to the public and offered exhibitions capable of entertaining or providing enjoyment, their paid entrances fell within the statute.

A business or educational purpose did not change the result

The ruling quoted Wien v. Murphy for the point that a place could remain a place of amusement even if it also offered something educational or edifying.

It applied that principle more broadly: an event was not excluded merely because it also had a business or other purpose. If the place entertained, relaxed, distracted, or gave pleasure, it could qualify as a place of amusement.

What this means for you

Event promoters and associations

Under this historical ruling, charging the public to enter a vendor show created an admissions-tax collection and remittance obligation for the admission collector.

Venue and trade-show operators

The analysis focused on what the public paid for—the right to enter the event—not on whether vendors separately sold taxable or exempt products inside.

Exhibitors and vendors

The admission tax was distinct from tax on retail sales made at the booths. RR 89-8 addressed the entrance charge, not the tax treatment of each vendor's products.

Accountants and tax professionals

An event's commercial, informational, or educational features did not by themselves defeat classification as a place of amusement under the ruling's broad test.

Common questions

Q: Which shows did RR 89-8 list?

A: Antique, craft, boat, home, gun, car, recreational-vehicle, sportsman, and similar shows.

Q: Did the event have to be purely entertainment?

A: No. The ruling said a business, educational, or other purpose did not prevent the event from also being a place of amusement.

Q: Who paid and remitted the tax under the quoted statute?

A: The attendee paid it, and the person collecting the admission price collected and remitted it.

Q: Did RR 89-8 decide the sales-tax treatment of booth vendors?

A: No. Its conclusion concerned the public's admission charge.

Q: Is the quoted 4% rate necessarily current?

A: No. The ruling became effective July 1, 1989 under former law. Current rates, exemptions, and guidance must be checked.

Citations and references

• Former S.C. Code section 12-21-2410 — definitions of admission, place, and person
• Former S.C. Code section 12-21-2420 — 4% tax on paid admissions to places of amusement and collection duty
• S.C. Code section 12-3-170 and SC Revenue Procedure 87-3 — authority cited for the Revenue Ruling
• Radcliff v. Query, 153 S.C. 76, 150 S.E. 352 (1929) — admissions-tax statute included all classes of public exhibitions
• Wien v. Murphy, 284 N.Y.S.2d 303, 28 A.D.2d 222 (1967) — educational or edifying content did not prevent a facility from being a place of amusement
• Hughes v. Edwards, 265 S.C. 529, 220 S.E.2d 231 (1975); Investors Premium Corp. v. South Carolina Tax Commission, 260 S.C. 13, 193 S.E.2d 642 (1973); Mitchell v. Mitchell, 266 S.C. 196, 222 S.E.2d 217 (1976); Green v. Zimmerman, 269 S.C. 535, 238 S.E.2d 323 (1977) — statutory-construction principles quoted in the ruling

Source

• Landing page: https://dor.sc.gov/advisory-opinion-search
• Original PDF: https://dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/policies/RR89-8.pdf

Original ruling text

SC REVENUE RULING #89-8

SUBJECT:

Antique, Craft, Boat and Similar Shows
(Admissions Tax)

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 1, 1989

SUPERSEDES:

All previous documents and any oral directives in conflict
herewith.

REFERENCE:

S.C. Code Ann. Section 12-21-2410 (1976)
S.C. Code Ann. Section 12-21-2420 (1976 & Supp. 1988)

AUTHORITY:

S.C. Code Ann. Section 12-3-170 (1976)
SC Revenue Procedure #87-3

SCOPE:

A Revenue Ruling is the commission's official interpretation of
how tax law is to be applied to a specific set of facts. A Revenue
Ruling is public information and remains a permanent document
until superseded by a Regulation or is rescinded by a subsequent
Revenue Ruling.

Question:
Are charges for admissions to antique, craft, boat, home, gun, car, recreational vehicle,
sportsman and similar shows, when open to the public, subject to the State's admissions tax,
pursuant to Code Sections 12-21-2410 and 12-21-2420?
Facts:
A promoter or association leases space from an auditorium or similar facility and promotes a
show. Individual booth spaces are leased or provided to vendors (individuals, businesses,
nonprofit organizations, etc.), who will make retail sales of various products. The type product
depends on the type of show, which includes, but is not limited to, antique, craft, boat, home,
gun, car, recreational vehicles, sportsman and similar shows. The general public is invited and
an admissions charge is levied, at the entrance, on all persons entering the show.

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Code Section 12-21-2420 reads, in part:
There shall be levied, assessed, collected and paid upon all paid admissions to all
places of amusement within this State a license tax of...four percent....

The tax imposed by this section shall be paid by the person or persons paying
such admission price and shall be collected and remitted to the South Carolina
Tax Commission by the person or persons collecting such admissions price
(emphasis added).
Code Section 12-21-2410 defines various terms found in the article, and reads:
For the purpose of this article and unless otherwise required by the context:
(1)

The word "admissions" means the right or privilege to enter into or use a place or
location;

(2)

The word "place" means any definite enclosure or location; and

(3)

The word "person" means individual, partnership, corporation, association, or
organization of any kind whatsoever.

The statute, however, does not define the term "amusement".
Discussion
The issue is: Do the shows in question constitute "[places] of amusement"?
One of the primary rules of statutory construction is that words used in a statute should be taken
in their ordinary and popular meaning, unless there is something in the statute which requires a
different interpretation. Hughes v. Edwards, 265 S.C. 529, 220 S.E. 2d 231 (1975); Investors
Premium Corp. v. South Carolina Tax Commission, 260 S.C. 13, 193 S.E. 2d 642 (1973). Also,
where the terms of a statute are clear and unambiguous and leave no room for construction, they
must be applied according to their literal meaning. Mitchell v. Mitchell, 266 S.C. 196, 222 S.E.
2d 217 (1976); Green v. Zimmerman, 269 S.C. 535, 238 S.E. 2d 323 (1977).
It is an accepted practice in South Carolina to resort to the dictionary to determine the literal
meaning of words used in statutes. For cases where this has been done, see Hay v. South
Carolina Tax Commission, 273 SC 269, 255 SE 2d 837 (1979); Fennell v. South Carolina Tax
Commission, 233 S.C. 43, 103 SE2d 424 (1958); Etiwan Fertilizer Co. v. South Carolina Tax
Commission, 217 SC 484, 60 SE2d 682 (1950).

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Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines the term "amusement" to mean: "Pastime,
diversion, enjoyment. A pleasurable occupation of the senses or that which furnishes it. "The
Second College Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary provides the following definitions:
"Amusement"

1. The state of being amused, entertained, or pleased.
2. Something that amuses.

"Pastime"

An activity that occupies one's spare time pleasantly.

"Diversion"

Something that distracts the mind and relaxes or entertains.

"Enjoyment"

1. The act or state of enjoying.
2. The use or possession of something beneficial or pleasurable.
3. Something that gives pleasure.

In summary, a "place of amusement" is any enclosure or location consisting of an activity that
occupies one's spare time, distracts the mind, relaxes, entertains, or gives pleasure.
Further, in Radcliff v. Query, 153 S.C. 76, 150 S.E. 352 (1929), an Admission's Tax case, the
Supreme Court of South Carolina held:
The statute is broad enough to include all classes of public exhibitions,.... (emphasis
added).
Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines "public" in part, as:
Public, adj. Pertaining to a state, nation, or whole community; proceeding from, relating
to, or affecting the whole body of people or an entire community. Open to all; notorious.
Common to all or many; general; open to common use. Belonging to the people at large;
relating to or affecting the whole people or a state, nation, or community; not limited or
restricted to any particular class of the community. Peacock v. Retail Credit Co.,
D.C.Ga., 302 F.Supp. 418, 423 (emphasis added).
In addition, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court held in Wien v. Murphy,
284 N.Y.S. 2d 303, 28 A.D. 2d 222 (1967) that:
...if in fact a place or facility provides something edifying or educational in addition to
enjoyment, entertainment or amusement, it is no less a place of amusement.
In other words, the term "place of amusement" is not to be strictly construed so as to exclude
places which may also have a business or other purpose. If a place distracts the mind, relaxes,
entertains, or gives pleasure, then such place is a "place of amusement".

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Conclusion:
Charges for admissions to antique, craft, boat, home, gun, car, recreational vehicles, sportsman
and similar shows, when open to the public, are subject to the State's Admissions Tax.

SOUTH CAROLINA TAX COMMISSION
s/S. Hunter Howard, Jr.
S. Hunter Howard, Jr., Chairman
s/A. Crawford Clarkson, Jr.
A. Crawford Clarkson, Jr., Commissioner
s/T. R. McConnell
T. R. McConnell, Commissioner

Columbia, South Carolina
April 19
, 1989

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