Are private sports lesson fees — for example, ice skating, swimming, gymnastics, golf, or tennis instruction — taxable as amusement services in Texas?

Plain-English summary

An ice rink asked about sales tax on private instructor fees and skating-school fees. The Comptroller's short answer: lessons and classes are not amusement services under Rule 3.298, so instruction fees aren't taxed like admission to an amusement — regardless of who's teaching.

Specifically:

• Group lessons or skating school taught by the rink's own salaried employees are not taxable.
• Individual private lessons taught by independent contractors the rink doesn't control are also not taxable.
• By contrast, a license fee to exclusively rent the rink building (including the ice surface) — typically charged per hour — is a taxable amusement service, because that's paying for access to the facility itself rather than instruction.

Although this letter's fact pattern is ice skating, its holding (citing Rule 3.298 generally) reflects the same treatment the Comptroller applies to instruction in other sports — swimming, gymnastics, golf, tennis, and fitness classes are grouped with skating instruction in the letter's subject line as the same category of nontaxable lesson fee.

What this means for you

Sports and fitness facility operators

Charging for lessons or classes — swim lessons, gymnastics classes, golf or tennis instruction, skating school — is not a taxable amusement service, whether your own employees teach or you use independent contractors you don't control. But if you separately charge someone to exclusively rent your facility (an ice rink, a court, a pool) by the hour, that facility-rental charge is a taxable amusement service.

Independent sports instructors

Private lesson fees you charge, taught independently at a facility that doesn't control your instruction, are not taxable amusement services.

Accountants and tax professionals

The dividing line in Rule 3.298 here is instruction (nontaxable) versus facility access/rental (taxable amusement service) — the same facility can generate both a nontaxable revenue stream (lesson fees) and a taxable one (exclusive rental fees) depending on what exactly is being purchased.

Common questions

Q: Is a private swimming, tennis, or golf lesson taxable in Texas?
A: No. Lessons and classes are not amusement services under Rule 3.298.

Q: Does it matter if the instructor is an employee of the facility or an independent contractor?
A: No, for the lesson fee itself — this letter confirms both group lessons taught by salaried rink employees and private lessons taught by independent contractors the rink doesn't control are nontaxable.

Q: Is renting out an ice rink (or similar facility) by the hour taxable?
A: Yes. A license fee paid for exclusive rental of the rink building, including the ice surface, is the purchase of a taxable amusement service.

Q: Can I rely on this letter for my own facility or lesson business?
A: No. This opinion is rendered based on the facts presented; other facts, though similar, may yield different results.

Citations and references

Rules:

• 34 TAC Rule 3.298 (Amusement Services)

Source

• STAR search: https://star.comptroller.texas.gov/search?doc_type_code=L&tax_type_code=SST
• Opinion: https://star.comptroller.texas.gov/view/200005286L

Original ruling text

May 10, 2000

Dear **:

Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding sales tax on private instructor fees
and fees for skating school.

Lessons and classes are not amusement services. See Rule 3.298. Skating
instructors that teach private ice skating lessons for a fee are not providing
a taxable amusement service. Group lessons or skating school taught by salaried
employees of the rink are not subject to tax. Individual private skating
lessons taught by independent contractors (over which the rink has no control)
are not subject to tax. A license fee paid for exclusive rental of the rink
building (including ice surface), usually on a per hour basis, is the purchase
of a taxable amusement service.

To view rule 3.298, please go to our web site address at www.window.state.tx.us
and click on "The Sales Tax" under the "Quick Links" heading. Scroll down to
"Current Rules", click on "State Sales Tax" and scroll to the specific rule.

This opinion is rendered based on the facts presented. Other facts though
similar, may yield different results.

If you have any questions or require additional information, you may call
1-800-531-5441, extension 6-5809. You may write to Tax Policy Division, P. O.
Box 13825, Austin, Texas 78711-3825. You may also submit inquiries to our tax
help Internet address at .

Sincerely,

Emilio S. Lerma
Tax Policy Division