You can determine whether you should charge sales tax to someone renting all or part of your facility by asking these questions:
- Will the renter charge admission?
Don’t collect tax from someone renting your facility if they’ll charge admission to an event they’ll hold there. They must give you a completed
Form ST-101 – Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate, to document this. - If the renter won’t charge admission, is the use recreational?
If the use is recreational, you must charge sales tax, even if your facility isn’t a “recreational” facility. Your records must document that the use wasn’t recreational.
Examples of uses of a facility that are taxable because the uses are considered recreational:
- Receptions
- Family reunions
- Card parties, bingo parties or social nights
- Dances
- Picnics or other meals
- Sports activities
- Sports competitions
Examples of uses of a facility that aren't considered recreational (and are not taxable) are:
- Business meetings
- Educational classes
- Wedding ceremonies
- Religious services
- Fraternal meetings
- Trade shows
If you rent your facility to someone who’ll put it to both taxable and nontaxable uses, you must separately state the charge for the nontaxable use for it to be exempt (not taxable) from sales tax. Otherwise, the entire cost is taxable.
NOTE: Special rules apply to hotel and motel operators. For more information, see our Hotels, Motels and Short-Term Rentals guide.