Sales and Use Tax – TAA 15A-017 – Various Park Admissions

QUESTION: IS THE TAXPAYER’S PROPOSED TAXABILITY MATRIX AN ACCEPTABLE METHOD OF COMPUTING THE AMOUNT OF SURTAX DUE FOR THE VARIOUS PARK ADMISSIONS THAT THE TAXPAYER SELLS.

ANSWER: YES, GIVEN THE SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES INVOLVED IN THIS CASE, AND BASED ON THE REPRESENTATION BY THE TAXPAYER, THE DEPARTMENT AGREES THAT THE TAXPAYER’S PROPOSED TAXABILITY MATRIX IS AN ACCEPTABLE METHOD OF COMPUTING THE AMOUNT OF SURTAX DUE FOR THE VARIOUS PARK ADMISSIONS THAT THE TAXPAYER SELLS.

November 10, 2015

Re: Technical Assistance Advisement – TAA 15A-017

Sales and Use Tax– Admissions

Sections 212.02, 212.04, 212.054, and 212.055, Florida Statutes (F.S.)

Rule 12A-15.003, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.)

Dear XX:

This is in response to your letter dated June 22, 2015, requesting this Department’s issuance of a Technical Assistance Advisement (“TAA”) pursuant to section 213.22, F.S., and Rule Chapter 12-11, F.A.C., concerning the Department’s approval of the “Proposed Taxability Matrix” submitted with your request. An examination of your letter has established you have complied with the statutory and regulatory requirements for issuance of a TAA. Therefore, the Department is hereby granting your request for a TAA.

Facts

Your letter dated June 22, 2015, provides that following in part:

[The Taxpayer] owns and/or operates numerous amusement parks and attractions (“Parks”) in Florida and across the United States. . . .

Description of Florida Parks

The Taxpayer’s . . . Florida Park, XX, is owned by XX and is located in XX County. XX sells admissions to [enter] the Park and an adjacent . . . Park. Admission to the [adjacent] Park may only be purchased in conjunction with a ticket to [Taxpayer’s . . . Florida Park].

The Taxpayer is in the process of completing . . . new Parks in XX, Florida . . . .

Sales of Admissions 

The Taxpayer sells the various Park admissions through a variety of means including:

• On-site at the Park location, which includes admissions to Taxpayer’s other Parks; • Internet website; and 
• Trade sales

Ticket Types 

The Taxpayer generally sells admissions as follows:

• Individual Park Ticket
• Multi-Park Ticket
• XX (“Annual”) Pass for Admission to one or all Parks in Florida, the XX . . . or all U.S. Attractions.

The [identified entities] are registered dealers for Florida sales and use tax and file sales and use tax returns with the Florida Department of Revenue. For internal accounting purposes, the Taxpayer generally assigns the revenues to the Park where the sale was made . . . . In some situations, revenue is allocated amongst the Parks, but is not indicative of the appropriate sales tax treatment on the sale of admissions.

***

. . . There is no precise way at the time of sale to measure or allocate the use of a Multi-Park Pass

purchased by the customer. . . .

***

Requested Advisement

Along with the request for advisement, the Taxpayer included a “Proposed Taxability Matrix” to illustrate the method it intends to employ in order to compute the sales tax and discretionary sales surtax for sales of the various single county, multi-county, and multi-state admissions that it sells. The Taxpayer seeks the Department’s approval of the computation method provided in the Proposed Taxability Matrix.

Applicable Authority and Discussion

Section 212.04, F.S., imposes a taxable privilege on anyone that receives anything of value by way of admissions. Section 212.02(1), F.S., defines “admissions” to include “. . . any place where charge is made by way of sale of tickets, . . . participation fees, [or] entrance fees . . . in any place where there is any exhibition, amusement, sport, or recreation . . . .” The entity selling such an admission must collect admissions tax on the entire price charged for the package.

Section 212.055, F.S., authorizes the counties of Florida to levy various types of discretionary sales surtax. Section 212.054(2)(a), F.S., provides that the discretionary surtax is imposed on “all transactions occurring in the county which transactions are subject to the state tax imposed on sales, use, services, rentals, admissions, and other transactions.” Section 212.054(4)(a), F.S., provides that the Department must administer, collect, and enforce the discretionary sales surtax in accordance with the law governing administration, collection, and enforcement of the general state sales tax.

The basic principle in applying discretionary surtax is that it piggybacks the state sales and use tax. If a transaction is subject to sales tax and occurs at a location where surtax is imposed, the surtax also applies.

Section 212.054(3)(b), F.S., and Rule 12A-15.003(3), F.A.C., provide that, for purposes of taxable admissions, the discretionary sales surtax is due when the event occurs in a county imposing a surtax. The surtax rate imposed is based on the county where the event occurs.

Here, the Taxpayer offers sales of admissions for Parks that are located in more than one county imposing discretionary surtax. The Taxpayer is unable to determine which park the customer will enter at the time of the sale of the admission.

Conclusion

Given the specific circumstances involved in this case, and based on the representation by the Taxpayer, the Department agrees that the Taxpayer’s Proposed Taxability Matrix is an acceptable method of computing the amount of surtax due for the various park admissions that the Taxpayer sells.

This response constitutes a Technical Assistance Advisement under section 213.22, F.S., which is binding on the Department only under the facts and circumstances described in the request for this advice as specified in section 213.22, F.S. Our response is predicated on those facts and the specific situation summarized above. You are advised that subsequent statutory or administrative rule changes, or judicial interpretations of the statutes or rules, upon which this advice is based, may subject similar future transactions to a different treatment than that expressed in this response.

You are further advised that this response, your request and related backup documents are public records under Chapter 119, F.S., and are subject to disclosure to the public under the conditions of section 213.22, F.S. Confidential information must be deleted before public disclosure. In an effort to protect confidentiality, we request you provide the undersigned with an edited copy of your request for Technical Assistance Advisement, the backup material, and this response, deleting names, addresses, and any other details which might lead to identification of the taxpayer.

Your response should be received by the Department within 15 days of the date of this letter. Sincerely,

Brinton Hevey 
Tax Law Specialist 
Technical Assistance and Dispute Resolution 850/717-6839

Record ID: XX