When did service charges and credit-card fees on computerized ticket sales enter South Carolina's admissions-tax base?

Plain-English summary

South Carolina Revenue Ruling 90-10 drew the admissions-tax line based on whether a ticket fee was required to enter the event.

A computerized-ticket service charge was part of taxable paid admission when every person entering the event had to pay it, including box-office buyers. But a charge imposed only on customers using a remote outlet, mail, or telephone was a separate convenience service and was not part of admission because the customer could avoid it by buying at the box office.

A credit-card processing fee was also excluded when customers could avoid it by paying another way. It entered the admissions-tax base only if every entrant was required to pay by credit card.

The ruling also required taxable service charges to be included in the admission price printed on the ticket unless the Commission approved a waiver, and it taxed tickets to South Carolina places of amusement even when the ticket was bought outside the state.

Mandatory versus optional service charges

The ruling described two ticket structures:

• a remote or mail buyer paid a service charge that a box-office customer did not; or
• every buyer, including a box-office customer, paid the service charge.

The first charge was not required for admission. A customer could receive the same right to enter by purchasing at the venue without paying it, so the charge was outside the admissions-tax measure.

The second charge was unavoidable. Because every entrant had to pay it, the Commission treated it as part of the amount required for the right or privilege to enter.

Credit-card processing fees

A separately imposed credit-card user fee was not taxable when customers could buy with cash or another method and avoid the fee.

The ruling created one exception: if all persons entering the event had to pay by credit card, the fee became unavoidable and entered the admissions-tax base.

Price printed on the ticket

The historical statute prohibited an operator from selling an admission ticket without the admission price printed on it or at a price different from the printed amount, unless the Commission granted a written waiver for good cause.

RR 90-10 therefore required any service charge included in taxable paid admission to be included in the total admission price printed on the ticket, absent Commission approval otherwise.

An optional remote-purchase or card-processing fee outside the tax base did not become part of the required printed admission price under that conclusion.

Tickets bought outside South Carolina

The place of amusement controlled. A ticket granting admission to a South Carolina venue was subject to the admissions tax whether purchased inside or outside South Carolina.

That included remote, mail, and other out-of-state ticket purchases for South Carolina events.

Effective dates

The ruling used two effective-date rules:

• January 1, 1991 for the service-charge and credit-card-fee conclusions; and
• all periods open under statute for the printed-ticket-price and out-of-state-purchase conclusions.

What this means for you

Event promoters and venues

Identify which charges every entrant must pay. Mandatory charges tied to entry were included in paid admission under the ruling, regardless of how the invoice labeled them.

Ticketing companies

Document whether a buyer can avoid a service or processing fee through another sales channel or payment method. The availability of a no-fee box-office or cash option drove the historical analysis.

Current operators

Do not assume the 1990 rate, printed-ticket rule, or fee treatment remains current. Verify later statutes and Department guidance for modern online ticketing.

Common questions

Q: Was every ticketing-company service charge taxable?

A: No. It was taxable when every entrant had to pay it, but excluded when only remote or mail purchasers paid it.

Q: Were credit-card fees taxable?

A: Not when card use was optional. The ruling included the fee only when everyone had to pay by card.

Q: Did a taxable service charge have to appear in the printed ticket price?

A: Yes, unless the Commission approved otherwise.

Q: Could an out-of-state purchase avoid tax on a South Carolina event?

A: No. The ruling taxed admission to a South Carolina place of amusement regardless of where the ticket was purchased.

Citations and references

• S.C. Code Ann. § 12-21-2410 — historical definition of admission
• S.C. Code Ann. § 12-21-2420 — historical 4% tax on paid admissions to South Carolina places of amusement
• S.C. Code Ann. § 12-21-2520 — historical printed ticket-price requirement and waiver

Source

• Landing page: https://dor.sc.gov/advisory-opinion-search
• Original PDF: https://dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/policies/RR90-10.pdf

Original ruling text

SC REVENUE RULING #90-10

SUBJECT:

Computerized Ticket Sales
(Admissions Tax)

TAX ANALYST:

Deana West

EFFECTIVE DATE:

With respect to conclusions 1 and 2, the effective date is January 1,
1991.
With respect to conclusions 3 and 4, this ruling applies to all periods
open under statute.

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 (Supp. 1989)
S. C. Code Ann. Section 12-21-2520 (1976)

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
superceded by a Regulation or is rescinded by a subsequent Revenue
Ruling.

Questions:
1.

Does the measure of the admissions tax include service charges imposed by computerized
ticket sales companies?

2.

Does the measure of the admissions tax include credit card processing fees imposed by
ticket sales companies?

3.

What amounts must be included in the admissions price printed on the ticket?

4.

Are out of state ticket sales or purchases to South Carolina places of amusement subject to
the admissions tax?

1

Facts:
Promoters staging a concert, sport or similar event charging an admission will frequently employ
ticket sales companies to assist in the computerized sale of tickets. Typically, these tickets can be
purchased in person at the box office, by mail, by telephone or at remote ticket outlets.
For each ticket purchased through remote ticket outlets, mail or telephone, a separate fee (service
charge) is usually assessed. Based upon an agreed formula, the remote ticket outlet and the
computerized ticket sales company divide the money received from the service charge. For some
events, however, the ticket sales company may retain the entire service charge proceeds. Furthermore, customers purchasing by credit card may be charged an additional fee for the system to
process the charge transaction ( credit card processing fee).
The following examples of typical ticket price structures summarize the facts discussed above
and provide assistance in addressing the questions:
Example 1:
Event Price
Service Charge
Credit Card User Fee (if applicable)

$25.00
2.00*
1.00
-----$27.00
$28.00

Total Cash Ticket Price
Total Charge Ticket Price

• The service charge is imposed only upon sales at remote ticket outlets or through mail
  order requests. It is not imposed upon sales at the box office where the event is to be
  held.
  Example 2:
  Event Price
  Service Charge

$26.00
1.00*
-----$27.00

Total Cash Ticket Price

• The service charge is imposed upon all sales, including tickets sold at the box office
  where the event is to be held.
  Discussion:
  1. and 2. The first two issues concern whether service charges and credit card user fees are part
  of "paid admissions".

2

Code Section 12-21-2410 defines the word admission as "the right or privilege to enter into or
use a place or location". Code Section 12-21-2420 imposes the admissions tax and 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
Paid admissions, the measure of the admissions tax, is, therefore, the amount required to be
given for the right or privilege to enter into or use a place or location.
The issues in question were addressed in the New Jersey case Ticketron, Inc. v. Director,
Division of Taxation, Division of Tax Appeals, April 5, 1979. Ticketron, an independent
ticketbroker, used computer-directed remote terminals located in retail stores and banks to sell
tickets. This allowed customers to purchase tickets at alternative locations at the established box
office price plus an additional separate fee, referred to as a service charge.
In determining that the service charge was not taxable as an admission charge, the Division of
Tax Appeals concluded:
Ticketron's fee or "service charge" does not purport to be an admission charge. It is a
separate service charge for which the purchaser receives a separate receipt. It is not tied to
admission since a customer can gain admission to the event involved without paying
Ticketron's fee by simply buying the ticket at the box office in person or by mail.

From the facts in the case before me, it is clear that the Ticketron fee is not an admission
charge because one need not pay the Ticketron fee in order to gain admission. The fee is
simply a service charge for making tickets available to customers at remote locations.
3.

The third question concerns printing the amounts of the service charge fee or credit card
user fee on the ticket.

Code Section 12-21-2520 provides guidance as to what price must be printed on the ticket and
reads:
No operator of a place of amusement shall sell or permit to be sold in his place of business any
admission ticket without the price of admission printed thereon, nor shall he sell or permit to be
sold any admission ticket at a price other than the price printed thereon. Provided, however, that
upon written application to the Commission, the Commission may, in its discretion and for good
cause, waive the requirements of this section.
4.

The final question concerns the applicability of the admissions tax to out of state ticket
sales or purchases.

As discussed previously, Code Section 12-21-2420 imposes the admissions tax "...upon all paid
admissions to all places of amusement within this State...[and] the tax imposed by this section
shall be paid by the person or persons paying such admission price..."

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Conclusion:
1.

Service charges imposed by computerized ticket sales companies, and paid by all persons
entering an event, are included in the measure of the admissions tax.
Service charges imposed by computerized ticket sales companies, but only paid by persons
purchasing the tickets at remote locations or by mail, are not included in the measure of the
admissions tax.

2.

Credit card processing fees imposed by ticket sales companies are not included in the
measure of the admissions tax unless all persons entering an event are required to pay by
credit card.

3.

Service charges included in the measure of the admissions tax are required to be included
in the total admissions price printed on the ticket, unless the Commission approves
otherwise.

4.

Sales and purchases of tickets to South Carolina places of amusement are subject to the
admissions tax whether purchased inside or outside South Carolina.
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
October 3
, 1990

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