Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8809L0905G13 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1988-09-29

Is a tour that is primarily transportation to and from a destination a taxable amusement service in Texas?

Short answer: No. Where a tour is primarily transportation to and from a destination — here, a ranch to which customers buy their own admission tickets and pay tax on those tickets separately — the tour is not an amusement service, and the operator should not collect tax on its charge for the tour. The taxable amusement (the ranch attraction) is paid for and taxed separately through the customers' own ticket purchases.

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 an official Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts letter published on the State Tax Automated Research (STAR) system. Letters on STAR can be the basis of a detrimental reliance claim only for the taxpayer to whom the letter was directly issued (see 34 Tex. Admin. Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded. Taxpayer-identifying details are redacted. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a licensed Texas tax professional about your specific situation.
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

A tour operator wrote to the Comptroller to further explain its "tour #2" to a ranch. The operator clarified that this tour is primarily transportation to and from the ranch, and that customers buy their own tickets to the ranch and pay tax on those tickets at that time.

The Comptroller agreed that, on those facts, this tour is not an amusement service and told the operator not to collect tax on its charge for the tour. Because the tour is essentially a transportation service — and the taxable attraction (admission to the ranch) is bought and taxed separately by the customers — the operator's charge for the tour itself is not taxable.

The letter is fact-specific: it addresses a tour that is primarily transportation, where the customer separately buys and pays tax on the admission. A tour packaged differently — for example, one that bundles the amusement/admission with the transportation — could be analyzed differently.

What this means for you

Tour operators and destination-management companies

If your tour is primarily transportation to and from a destination, and your customers separately buy (and pay tax on) their own admission to the attraction, your charge for the transportation portion is not a taxable amusement service. Keep the transportation clearly separate from any taxable amusement.

Watch how the package is structured

The result here depends on the tour being transportation-only with the admission bought separately. If you bundle admission or other amusement services into the tour charge, the tax treatment could change — describe your actual arrangement to the Comptroller if it differs.

Common questions

Q: Is a transportation-only tour taxable in Texas?
A: No. A tour that is primarily transportation to and from a destination is not an amusement service, so the operator does not collect tax on the tour charge.

Q: What about tax on the attraction itself?
A: Here the customers buy their own tickets to the ranch and pay tax on those tickets separately, so the taxable amusement is handled through those ticket purchases.

Q: Would the answer change if I bundled admission into the tour?
A: Possibly. This ruling rests on the tour being transportation only with admission bought separately; a different package could be analyzed differently.

Q: Can I rely on this 1988 letter today?
A: Treat it as guidance only. It is based on the facts presented and can change with different facts; on the STAR system it binds the Comptroller only as to the taxpayer it was issued to and may no longer reflect current policy.

Citations and references

Rules and statutes: The letter concludes the transportation-only tour is not a taxable amusement service but does not cite a specific rule or Tax Code section by number.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

September 29, 1988

Dear ***:

I apologize for the delay in answering your letter further ex-
plaining your tour #2 to the *** Ranch.

I understand that the tour is primarily transportation to and from
the *** Ranch. Your customers buy their own tickets to the
ranch and pay tax on those tickets at that time. You are correct,
this tour is not an amusement service. Don't collect tax on your
charge for this tour.

Thank you clarifying your service.

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

If you have any questions or need more information, please call
our toll-free number 1-800-531-5441. The regular number is
512/463-4614. You may write me at the Taxability Section, Legal
Services Division.

Sincerely,
Adina Whittemore
Taxability Section
Legal Services Division

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