LR 8342
Taxability of the Rental of Golf Simulators
February 28, 2025
Dear Applicant:
This is a letter ruling issued by the Director of Revenue under Section 536.021.10, RSMo, and Missouri Code of State Regulations 12 CSR 10-1.020, in response to your letter dated January 3, 2025.
The facts as presented in your letter ruling request are summarized as follows:
Applicant is a golf course which rents golf simulators to its patrons by the hour. It purchased the simulators itself and paid sales tax on the purchase at that time.
ISSUE:
Must Applicant collect sales tax on the proceeds of the rental of golf simulators to customers?
RESPONSE:
No. Sales tax need not be collected on the rental of the golf simulators.
Section 144.020.1, RSMo, provides: “A tax is hereby levied and imposed […] upon all sellers for the privilege of engaging in the business of selling tangible personal property or rendering taxable service at retail in this state.” In addition, Section 144.020.1(2), RSMo, imposes a sales tax on fees paid for admission and seating or paid in any place of amusement or recreation, games, or sporting event.
Despite these broad impositions of sales tax, an exemption is created by subsection (8):
[…] [P]rovided that if the lessor or renter of any tangible personal property had previously purchased the property under the conditions of sale at retail or leased or rented the property and the tax was paid at the time of purchase, lease or rental, the lessor, sublessor, renter or subrenter shall not apply or collect the tax on the subsequent lease, sublease, rental or subrental receipts from that property. Section 144.020.1(8), RSMo.
In light of the above statutes and cases, no sales tax is due on the rental of the golf simulators in the context posed by your question.
This letter ruling is binding upon the Department of Revenue with respect to the Applicant for three (3) years from the date of this letter and is subject only to statutory changes by the General Assembly and to changes in the interpretation of law by the courts or administrative tribunals. If a change occurs, the taxpayer who relies upon an outdated interpretation may be subject to additional taxes, interest and penalties, which may be imposed prospectively from the date of the change. For this reason, the interpretation set forth above should be reviewed on a regular basis. Please note that any change in or deviation from the facts as presented will render this ruling inapplicable.
Should additional information be needed, please contact Senior Counsel Kent L. Brown, General Counsel’s Office, Post Office Box 475, Jefferson City, Missouri 65105-0475, phone (573) 751-0961.
Sincerely,
Trish Vincent