Navigating sales tax can be complex, especially across multiple states. On The Stage helps organizations understand their sales tax responsibilities for ticket sales and related purchases. Sales tax is only collected if your organization enables it in the OTS dashboard, allowing you to set it up when required for an event.
👟Walk Through
Sales tax requirements vary based on your organization's tax status, location, the nature of your event, and other factors.
🎭 Noteworthy: On The Stage does not make legal recommendations regarding taxes. You should consult with a tax advisor regarding specific tax collection, remittance, and reporting obligations.
If your organization is required to collect sales tax, you must have an OTS website that is created and in draft mode to set this up.
Sales Tax is calculated based on individual tickets, not entire orders. Here's an example:
On a $10 ticket we round from $0.675 to $0.68.
And on a $5 ticket we round up from $0.3375 to $0.34.
Therefore, the sales tax on an order with two $10 tickets would calculate at $0.68 + $0.68 which equals $1.36, not $1.35 as you might expect when doing a $20 ticket.
Once you have created your website, you can organize the collection of sales tax through On the Stage by:
Clicking on the Show Details tab on your production site.
Scrolling down the left-hand sidebar to Sales Tax.
Click on the pencil icon Edit button on the top right corner of the Ticket Details section. Then enter the percentage of sales tax your organization needs to collect.
Hit SAVE. Your tax amount will be entered next to the Fee Tax Rate % space.
Once your production is published, sales tax will be added to a patron’s order when they check out. You will see the sales tax amount collected from that order.
After adding sales tax, you will be able to see Sales Tax when looking in an order. It's important to note the following:
When a ticket is purchased online in advance, you will be able to see the sales tax listed as its own line item at check out.
When a ticket is purchased via Box Office Portal, fees cannot be set to 'Added On' (passed on the patron.) This applies even if your overall fee structure is set to 'Added On'. You will not see the breakdown of fees and sales tax because ticket fees are automatically included in the Walk-Up ticket price.
In the example below, two main seat tickets priced at $22 each were added to the cart. The price is equal to $48.56 which includes the ticket price, fees, and sales tax.
🎓 Recap
The article outlines key sales tax concepts, including tax liability, exemptions, and state-specific regulations. By following this guide, organizations can better manage their tax obligations and ensure compliance and avoiding potential penalties. With this knowledge, you’re well-equipped to handle sales tax with confidence. 💪🏽
Tax only applies to ticket and not custom fees, add-ons, subscriptions, etc.