Sales Tax

• NC sales tax should not be charged on sales made to customers who take delivery outside the State of NC.
• For online sales, NC sales tax must be collected on sales made to customers who take delivery inside the state of NC.
• Sales tax does not need to be charged on purchases made by other state agencies and nonprofit entities that can provide a tax exemption certificate.
• Sales tax must always be charged to nonprofits for admission tickets to entertainment events.
• Sales tax does not need to be charged on purchases made between departments.

N.C. General Statute 105-164.4(a)(10) imposes that sales tax must be collected on admission charges to entertainment events. The total sales tax rate is currently 7%. (4.75% state and 2.25% New Hanover county)

Sales tax must be collected on the following types of entertainment activity:

1. A live performance or other live event of any kind, the purpose of which is for entertainment.
2. A movie, motion picture, or film.
3. A museum, cultural site, garden, exhibit, show, or similar attraction.
4. A guided tour at any of the attractions listed in subsection 3 above.

An admission charge includes a charge for a single ticket, a multi-occasion ticket, a seasonal pass, an annual pass; a membership fee that provides for admission; a cover charge; a surcharge; a convenience fee, a processing fee, a facility charge; or any other charges included in gross receipts derived from admission.

An admission to an event is sourced to the location where admission to the entertainment activity is gained by a person." In other words, the sales tax is sourced to where the event is held.

Sales Tax must be charged to for-profit, as well as nonprofit entities. For example, sales tax would need to be charged on sales between different UNCW entities. If the purchasing entity (ex. Alumni from Athletics) repackages the tickets as part of a homecoming event then they would not charge sales tax. Sales tax should only be charged once.

Sales tax does not need to be collected on the following:

• Fees for the right to "participate" in sporting or recreational events. Examples include corn maze fees, bowling fees, golf fees, paintball fees, water park fees, etc.
• Tuition, registration fees, or charges to attend instructional seminars, conferences, or workshops for educational purposes.
• Donations that would be deductible as a charitable contribution under the Internal Revenue Code.
• Charges for amenities. An amenity may include parking and special access.

Frequently Asked Questions

NCDOR Technical Publications for Admission Charges to Entertainment Activities

The University must comply with North Carolina General Statute 105-164.4 (PDF) to collect sales taxes on sales of tangible personal property currently at 7%.

Examples of tangible personal property sales include the following:

• Sales of prepared food and drinks
• Sales of prepaid meal plans to students, faculty, and staff
• Sales of merchandise such as clothing, pictures, books, etc.
• Sales of over the counter drugs

Effective March 1, 2016, N.C. General Statute 105-164.4 (a)(16) (PDF) sales tax should be charged on the sales price of the gross receipts derived from repair, maintenance, and installation services. Charging sales tax on sales made in Binaries on repairs, maintenance, and the installation of software is an example of when this would be applicable at the University.

NC DOR Technical Publications for Repair, Maintenance, and Installation Services

Sales tax should be recorded to the liability account 526200. The Tax Accountant files a Sales and Use Tax Return monthly to remit the tax to NCDOR.

Use the following formulas to calculate sales tax: Total Sales Tax = (Item Cost) X .07

Ex. If you would like to sell a t-shirt for $10 without the sales tax included, sales tax would be $10 X 0.07 =$0.70 In this example, you would charge your customers $10.70. $10 would be your item cost and 0.70 cents would be the sales tax.

a. Cost including sales tax /1.07 = Item Cost

b. (Item Cost) x .07 = Sales Tax

Ex. You would like to charge your customer $10 for a t-shirt. This $10 includes the sales tax. To calculate the sales tax you would first divide $10 by 1.07 which equals the item cost, $9.35. Second, sales tax would be computed by multiplying the item cost of $9.35 by 0.07 = 0.65

In both examples, the item cost should be recorded to a revenue account and the sales tax should be recorded to the sales tax liability account, 526200, on the deposit transmittal.