Nevada simplified live entertainment tax will still require detailed records

Nevada’s streamlined live entertainment tax may have been simplified but will still require detailed accounting records, a state official said Thursday.

Shirley Springer, chief auditor for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, told casino representatives that operators will have to break out credit and debit card billings to reflect charges billed for admissions from other charges or fees.

“There are going to be challenges with this,” she said.

Control Board member Terry Johnson presided Thursday over the first public workshop on Senate Bill 266 as the regulatory agency began the process of devising regulations to implement the bill on Oct. 1.

The law replaces Nevada’s confusing live entertainment tax with a 9 percent admissions tax to be imposed on ticket sales to venues where an admission is charged and a performance is provided.

At Thursday’s workshop, several casino resorts asked that language in regulations clarify when the tax would begin and end. They cited examples of nightclubs where an admission is required to get in but the live entertainment may not start until hours later after patrons have left.

But Springer said the provision on when the tax kicks in is already in existing regulations and will not change. The agency, however, wants more industry input on at what point after entertainment has stopped for the night does the tax liability end.

Additionally, operators would be assessed the tax on full table fees, which can run thousands of dollars at swanky clubs, if patrons are comped the price of admission. To get around that, the guests would have to pay a minimum admission charge on which the tax would apply.

“If you pay a general admission, that is subject to the tax,” Springer said. “If you pay an additional fee for table, that is not subject to the tax.”

Johnson said the agency will have drafted language to review at the next workshop, scheduled for July 23.