CLUB FEATURING SEMI-NUDE DANCERS WAS SUBJECT TO SALES TAX FOR SALE OF IN-HOUSE CURRENCY USED FOR ACCESS TO PRIVATE-ROOM DANCES (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, in a comprehensive decision too detailed to fairly summarize here, determined a club which featured semi-nude dancers was subject to sales tax for the sale of in-house currency (scrips) for access to private-room dances:

​

We find no basis to disturb the Tribunal’s determination that the club’s receipts from the sale of scrip are taxable as admission charges to a place of amusement. As the Tribunal recognizes, the definition of admission charge in Tax Law § 1101 (d) (2), as well as the relevant regulation … , establish that, for the purposes of Tax Law § 1105 (f) (1), an admission charge includes any additional cost for entertainment or amusement that must be paid to gain access to the place of amusement — here, the private room … . * * *

​

… [P]etitioners assert that, even if the sale of scrip is a taxable admission charge under Tax Law § 1105 (f) (1), they are exempt from the amusement tax because the purchase of scrip to pay for private dances qualifies as a charge for admission to a dramatic or musical arts performance. * * *

​

… [W]ith respect to the venue requirement, it was incumbent on petitioners to establish that the private rooms constituted “a theatre, opera house, concert hall or other hall or place of assembly” (Tax Law § 1101 [d] [5]). In our view, the Tribunal properly reasoned that, based on the evidence proffered by petitioners, the private room lacked the common characteristics of the settings described in Tax Law § 1105 (f) (1)  …

​

The Tribunal’s determination that “petitioners have failed to credibly depict the private dance experience in sufficient detail to establish that experience as dramatic or choreographic” is rational and supported by substantial evidence. Matter of HDV Manhattan, LLC v Tax Appeals Trib. of The State of New York, 2017 NY Slip Op 08559, Third Dept 12-7-17

 

TAX LAW (CLUB FEATURING SEMI-NUDE DANCERS WAS SUBJECT TO SALES TAX FOR SALE OF IN-HOUSE CURRENCY USED FOR ACCESS TO PRIVATE-ROOM DANCES (THIRD DEPT))/SALES TAX (CLUB FEATURING SEMI-NUDE DANCERS WAS SUBJECT TO SALES TAX FOR SALE OF IN-HOUSE CURRENCY USED FOR ACCESS TO PRIVATE-ROOM DANCES (THIRD DEPT))/ADMISSION CHARGES (SALES TAX, CLUB FEATURING SEMI-NUDE DANCERS WAS SUBJECT TO SALES TAX FOR SALE OF IN-HOUSE CURRENCY USED FOR ACCESS TO PRIVATE-ROOM DANCES (THIRD DEPT))/CABARETS (SALES TAX, CLUB FEATURING SEMI-NUDE DANCERS WAS SUBJECT TO SALES TAX FOR SALE OF IN-HOUSE CURRENCY USED FOR ACCESS TO PRIVATE-ROOM DANCES (THIRD DEPT))/SCRIPS (IN-HOUSE CURRENCY, SALES TAX, CLUB FEATURING SEMI-NUDE DANCERS WAS SUBJECT TO SALES TAX FOR SALE OF IN-HOUSE CURRENCY USED FOR ACCESS TO PRIVATE-ROOM DANCES (THIRD DEPT))