Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8710L0833B08 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1987-10-09

Which parts of a camping or outdoor-experience fee were taxable when the provider supplied recreation, meals, and transportation?

Short answer: The amusement-service and meal portions were taxable; transportation was not. A single unseparated lump sum was fully taxable.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1987. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1987
Subsequent statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later rulings may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, rate, or position mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is a taxpayer-specific October 1987 Texas Comptroller letter about a camping or outdoor-experience fee. It says the opinion may change if the facts differ. Its amusement-service classification and bundled-charge treatment are historical; verify current taxability and invoicing rules for each component. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Identities are redacted. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official state tax ruling. The original ruling (linked on this page) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

Plain-English summary

The Comptroller classified the provider's offering as an amusement service. The part of the fee allocated to amusement or recreation was taxable, and the amount allocated to meals was also taxable.

The transportation portion was not taxable. But if the provider failed to separate the taxable recreation and meal charges from the nontaxable transportation charge, the entire single lump-sum fee became taxable.

What this means for you

The historical letter made itemization decisive for a package mixing taxable and nontaxable components. A separately stated transportation amount escaped tax; an undivided package did not.

Common questions

Was the camping or outdoor experience taxable? The amusement-service portion was taxable.

Were meals taxable? Yes.

Was transportation taxable? No when separately allocated.

What happened to an unseparated lump-sum charge? The entire charge was taxable.

Citations and references

  • No statute or rule number is cited in the ruling text.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller October 9, 1987

Dear **:

Thank you for your letter of August 31, 1987, concerning your sales tax
responsibilities.

The sales tax law imposes a sales tax on amusement services. Amusement
services is defined as "the provision of amusement, entertainment or
recreation...".

You are providing an amusement service and you are required to remit
sales
tax on the amount of the fee allocated to the amusement service. The
amount
of the fee that is allocated to the meals is also taxable. The amount
allocated to the transportation cost is not taxable. If you do not
separate
the taxable charges from the non-taxable charges then the total single,
lump-sum charge will be taxable.

This opinion is based on the facts presented. If there are additional or
different facts, the opinion may change.

If you have any questions or need more information, please call me at
1-800-252-5555 toll free from anywhere in Texas. The regular number is
512/463-4600. You may write me at the Tax Policy Division.

Sincerely,
Eddie C. Washington
Tax Policy Division

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