Case No. 16-S-268, Wis. Tax. App. Comm. (2/28/23). A three-member panel of the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission (Commission) held that an out-of-state company operating an online marketplace where tickets to sporting events, concerts, theater and other live entertainment services were bought and sold owed state sales and use tax on the full purchase price of all tickets sold to events in Wisconsin during the prior periods at issue, concluding that such sale of tickets for admission on the marketplace constituted a sale at retail under Wisconsin law. In this respect, the Commission reasoned that the sale at retail of admissions to venues located in Wisconsin constitutes a sale at retail in Wisconsin. The company unsuccessfully claimed that because the tickets were merely representations of the admissions being sold, and it was only involved in selling the tickets for admissions, it could not be held liable for tax on those sales. Rejecting this argument, the Commission did agree with the company that it was not a “ticket broker” as that phrase is commonly understood because it did not buy tickets, hold an inventory of tickets, and then sell those same tickets to buyers; accordingly, the Commission held that the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s (Department) imposition of underlying penalties was inappropriate given the facts, law, and Department publications in place at the time of the transactions at issue. Please contact us with any questions.
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