A. Both sales
and hotel tax apply only to living quarters as defined in §
51.5 of this Part within a
hotel. The hotel is not required to charge tax on the rental of public rooms
(i.e., assembly rooms, ballrooms, card rooms, etc.) for group meetings, display
purposes, dances, or for similar events as long as the charges for such public
rooms are separately stated, except in the following cases:
1. If a customer rents a room in conjunction
with the serving of a meal (wedding, banquets, retirement dinner or similar
events) and the meal is provided by the operator/owner of the room, the charge
for the room, whether or not separately stated, is treated as an additional
charge for the furnishing, preparing or serving of the meal and is included in
the sales price of the meal.
2. If
a customer rents a room for purposes other than the serving of meals and there
is an incidental serving of light refreshments by the operator/owner of the
room for an additional charge, the sales tax applies only to the sales price of
the refreshments, if the charge for the refreshments is separately stated on
both the records of the vendor and the bill to the customer. If the charges are
not separately stated, the entire amount charged is subject to the sales
tax.
3. If more than one meeting
room has been rented for use at the same function, with one room being used for
the serving of meals and another room being used for the meeting; the
facility's separately stated and reasonable charge (based on prevailing rates
in the area) for the room not used for the serving of meals is not treated as
charges for the meals, and is not subject to sales tax. If the charge for the
room being used for the meeting is neither separately stated nor reasonable,
the facility's total charges are treated as charges for the meals, and are
subject to sales and use taxes.
B. Living Quarters Furnished for Employees:
Tax will not apply in a case where living quarters are furnished by the
employer to the employee, at premises controlled by the employer, and solely
for the convenience of the employer; regardless of whether there is a pay
differential, or pay deduction, based upon the furnishing of such quarters.
