Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8801L0851B01 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1988-01-21

Did Texas sales tax apply to tickets sold and delivered to out-of-state customers when the amusement event occurred in Texas?

Short answer: Yes. Texas required sales tax on tickets sold and delivered outside the state when the amusement event itself occurred in Texas, and instructed the operator to begin collecting immediately.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1988. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1988
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 January 1988 Texas Comptroller notice changing the taxpayer's collection responsibility based on facts first supplied in an April 18, 1985 letter. It does not include the usual fact-change caveat or cite a statute or rule. Amusement-service, ticket, event-location, out-of-state delivery, consignment, and sourcing rules may have changed; verify current law. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Taxpayer-identifying details and the event 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

Sales representatives consigned blocks of tickets to customers or agents in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Those organizations sold the tickets and sent the proceeds back to the Texas event operator.

The Comptroller said Texas sales tax was due even though the tickets were sold and delivered to out-of-state customers because the amusement event occurred in Texas. The operator was told to begin collecting tax immediately.

What this means for you

Under this historical notice, the Texas location of the amusement event controlled over the customer's location or ticket delivery outside the state.

Common questions

Were tickets delivered outside Texas taxable? Yes.

Why? The amusement event occurred in Texas.

Citations and references

The letter cites no numbered statute or rule.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller January 21, 1988

Dear ***:

I'm writing this letter to inform you of a change in your sales tax
responsibility on amusement tickets sold to customers out of state.

You provided the following information in your April 18, 1985 letter:

Annually, our sales representatives call on customers, or agents,
if you will, out-of-state - New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana -
selling the *** Program and consigning blocks of tickets
for sale in their respective states. These customers comprise a
broad spectrum of industry, and include churches, cities, small
companies, banks, etc., who generally sell the tickets at cost and
without profit. Ticket sales proceeds are then remitted to *
in **, Texas.

Texas sales tax is due on tickets sold and delivered to customers located
out-of-state when the amusement event occurs in Texas.

This letter is to notify you to begin collecting tax on these sales
immediately.

If you have any questions or need more information, please call our
toll-free
number 1-800-531-5441. The regular number is 512/463-4600. You may
write me
at the Tax Policy Division.

Sincerely,
Mona Ezell Shoemate
Tax Policy Division

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