Were flat-fee mobile disc jockey services for private parties, weddings, and receptions subject to Tennessee sales tax or amusement tax when no admission was charged?

Plain-English summary

Flat-fee mobile disc jockey services for private parties, weddings, and receptions were not subject to Tennessee sales tax or amusement tax when nobody charged admission.

The taxpayer contracted with individuals and organizations to provide his own or another person's DJ services and supplied all necessary equipment. He negotiated one flat fee for each engagement. The events included home parties, wedding receptions, and employee or member gatherings, but none charged admission.

Tennessee taxed only listed categories of services as retail sales. Mobile DJ performance was not among them. The amusement tax also did not apply because the taxpayer's fee was not derived from membership dues, tickets, admission charges, recreational participation, or the privilege of using equipment.

The ruling distinguished the taxpayer's other work at a fixed singles dance club. Admission was charged there, the taxpayer received a percentage of gate collections, and he already collected and remitted amusement tax on that activity.

What this means for you

Mobile DJs and event entertainers

A service can fall outside sales tax when it is not one of the categories the statute taxes. The exact compensation and event structure still matter.

Wedding and private-event hosts

On these facts, hiring a DJ for a flat fee did not become taxable merely because the DJ supplied sound equipment.

Admission-charging venues

The ruling did not exempt gate-funded entertainment. It expressly contrasted the taxpayer's taxable dance-club work.

Common questions

Q: Was the private-party DJ fee subject to sales tax? A: No. Mobile DJ services were not among the listed taxable services.

Q: Did supplying equipment make the fee taxable?
A: No, not under the described flat-fee service arrangement.

Q: Was amusement tax due?
A: No, because the events had no admission charge and the fee was not tied to taxable amusement receipts.

Q: What about a club charging customers at the door? A: The taxpayer's separate gate-percentage work was treated as taxable amusement activity.

Q: Can another DJ rely on this letter ruling?
A: No. It binds the Department only for the addressed taxpayer and facts.

Citations and references

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-201 — taxable privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail.
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-102(23)(F) — listed services included within retail sales.
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-212 — amusement-tax categories.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/revenue/tax-resources/legal-resources/tax-rulings.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/revenue/documents/rulings/sales/97-03.pdf

Original ruling text

TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
LETTER RULING #97-03

WARNING
Letter rulings are binding on the Department only with respect to the individual taxpayer being addressed in the ruling. This presentation of the ruling in a redacted form is informational only. Rulings are made in response to particular facts presented and are not intended necessarily as statements of Department policy.

SUBJECT
Taxability of mobile disc jockey services.
SCOPE
This letter ruling is an interpretation and application of the tax law as it relates to a specific set of existing facts furnished to the department by the taxpayer. The rulings herein are binding upon the Department and are applicable only to the individual taxpayer being addressed. This letter ruling may be revoked or modified by the Commissioner at any time. Such revocation or modification shall be effective retroactively unless the following conditions are met, in which case the revocation shall be prospective only: (A) The taxpayer must not have misstated or omitted material facts involved in the transaction; (B) Facts that develop later must not be materially different from the facts upon which the ruling was based; (C) The applicable law must not have been changed or amended; (D) The ruling must have been issued originally with respect to a prospective or proposed transaction; and (E) The taxpayer directly involved must have acted in good faith in relying upon the ruling; and a retroactive revocation of the ruling must inure to the taxpayer’s detriment. FACTS

[THE TAXPAYER] is in the business of providing mobile disc jockey services. This entails his contracting with an individual or organization to provide his or another person’s services as a disc jockey. He provides all equipment necessary for this activity. He charges a flat fee for his services which is negotiated for each engagement. The activities at which he provides services include parties in personal residences, wedding and other receptions, and parties sponsored by businesses or community organizations for their employees or members. These are not activities at which admission is charged. The compensation [THE TAXPAYER] receives is not from gross receipts or gross proceeds from the sale at retail of any dues or fees, ticket sales, admission charges, or any charge for the privilege of using tangible personal property in a recreational activity.
[THE TAXPAYER]’s other business involves providing music at a singles dance club at a fixed and permanent location for which admission is charged. As his compensation for these services, [THE TAXPAYER] receives a percentage of the gate collections. In this business, [THE TAXPAYER] provides a service which is subject to the amusement tax and for which he collects and remits the tax.

ISSUES
Whether the services provided by [THE TAXPAYER] as a mobile disc jockey for private parties in personal residences, weddings, and other receptions are subject to sales and use tax.

RULINGS
[THE TAXPAYER]’s services as a mobile disc jockey for private parties in personal residences, weddings, and other receptions as described are not subject to sales tax.

ANALYSIS
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-201 declares the business of selling tangible personal property at retail to be a taxable privilege. A “sale at retail” is defined by Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6102(23)(F)1 to include certain services. The services provided by [THE TAXPAYER] as

1

(F) “Retail sale,” “sale at retail,” and “retail sales price” include the following services: (i) The sale, rental, or charges for any rooms lodgings or accommodations furnished to transients by any hotel, inn, tourist court, tourist camp . . . . (ii) Charges for services rendered by persons operating or conducting a garage, parking lot, or other place of business for the purpose of parking or storing motor vehicles . . . (iii) The furnishing, for a consideration, of either intrastate or interstate telecommunication services . . . (iv) The performing for a consideration of any repair services . . . (v) The laundering or dry cleaning of any kind of tangible personal property . . .

a mobile disc jockey are not of the type enumerated in Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6102(23)(F). Accordingly, his services are not taxable under this section. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-212 imposes an amusement tax on the gross proceeds of the sale at retail of other services: (1) Dues or fees to membership sports and recreation clubs . . . (2) Sales of tickets, fees, or other charges made for admission to or voluntary contributions made to places of amusement, sports, entertainment, exhibition, display, or other recreational events or activities . . . (3) Charges made for the privilege of entering or engaging in any kind of recreational activity, when no admission is charged spectators, such as tennis, racquetball, or handball courts; (4) Charges made for the privilege of using tangible personal property for amusement, sports, entertainment or recreational activities such as .
. . sports and athletic equipment; and
(5) Fees for subscription to . . .cable television services in excess of those charges made for the basic rate . . .
[THE TAXPAYER] does not engage in any of the activities listed in the statute. The compensation he receives for his services is not from gross receipts or gross proceeds from the sale at retail of any dues or fees, ticket sales, admission charges, or any charge for the privilege of using tangible personal property in a recreational activity. Therefore, there are no taxable services being rendered and the tax on amusements is not applicable.

Caroline R. Krivacka
Tax Counsel

APPROVED:

DATE:

Ruth E. Johnson
Commissioner
2/3/97

(vi) The installing of tangible personal property which remains tangible personal property after installation . . . (vii) The enriching of uranium materials . . . (viii) The renting or providing of space to a dealer or vendor without a permanent location in this state . . . (ix) Charges for warranty or service contracts . . .