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Taxes on comped meals?

Discussion in 'Comps' started by wormhole, Aug 29, 2013.

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  1. wormhole

    wormhole VIP Whale

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    I just returned from a NYNY stay on an offer from the Mlife site (3 nights Park Ave. room, $100 fp, $25 resort credit; I know, nothing fancy on this one). At check-in, the clerk made it a point to show me what the resort fee covers. :Þ Had an enjoyable trip, but had a couple of surprises at check-out. Stopped by the player’s club desk to see what they would take off. They covered all my meals, as I had hoped. The clerk said she could not take off the tips and taxes? What tips? I never put any on the receipts I signed. Turns out 2 of the restaurants did it automatically and I did not notice it. GRR! Also, this is the first time I have had taxes show up on comped food charged to the room. I know the casinos were fighting the state of Nevada over this, but I thought it had been settled in the customer’s favor. Maybe not. The player’s club clerk said she did not see any resort fees on my bill. Yay! She said it looked like I booked through a 3rd party instead of directly with the hotel. I said yes, I used the Mlife website. When I checked out at the front desk, I was told the tax/tip bill was $13 and change. Yuck. I checked my credit card bill online today and no pending charges from NYNY, not even the usual deposit hold. Hmm, maybe there is hope yet. I won’t get upset over $13, but was caught off guard by the taxes and the lack of resort fee.
     
  2. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    They never cover tips on resort credit or comps, but I have never had to pay taxes
     
  3. VegasBJ

    VegasBJ VIP Whale

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    Tips are not covered, never had to pay any taxes though.

    Were you going to stiff the waiter by not including a tip on your comped meal or did you leave a cash tip?? If you left a cash tip, they should not have included an automatic gratuity unless it was a large party.
     
  4. C0usineddie

    C0usineddie VIP Whale

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    Keep in mind that businesses dont "charge" tax. They are forced to "collect" tax for the govt.
     
  5. casinoboy

    casinoboy Low-Roller

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    maybe your talking about some of the tax they charge on the room??

    you pay a little bit of tax on COMP rooms but just a small amount.
     
  6. Julie888

    Julie888 VIP Whale

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    Can you tell us the two restaurants that added a tip automatically? I won't be dining at them.
     
  7. Kcitsme

    Kcitsme Low-Roller

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  8. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    Incorrect. They do charge tax. They are forced by the gov't to pay sales tax so they pass it on to you in most cases. They are the ones that are forced to pay it. They choose to charge the tax to the customer.

    But I've never paid tax on comps. But I wouldn't be surprised nyny is the casino in question. They are often shady with comps.
     
  9. RiddickBull

    RiddickBull VIP Whale

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    I have never payed taxes on resort credit or comped meals. However, I always had to cover the tip.
     
  10. wormhole

    wormhole VIP Whale

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    I am aware that tips can't be comped and I did leave a tip in the table at every place I ate. I was on a solo trip, so no large party.
     
  11. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    My understanding is the same as Eddie's... the tax is collected on behalf of the state. The state even provides a bit of a "discount" in the formula for the collection and remittance. It's stated very clearly to new businesses here that the sales-tax collected does not belong to the business at any point... at least that was the case 15 years ago when I last was in a sales-tax related business here in Nevada.

    What is sales tax?

    Sales tax is a retail point-of-purchase tax imposed by state and local governments that is paid by the purchaser for goods and services. As a small business owner, you are required to assess sales tax, collect it and pass it on to the appropriate authorities within the prescribed time. Sales tax rates and laws vary from state to state – which often leads to confusion, especially if you sell to customers in more than one state (more on this below). Currently, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon don’t impose general sales taxes at the state level. However, many localities in Alaska have their own local sales taxes.
     
  12. wormhole

    wormhole VIP Whale

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    I was given an itemize list at checkout and the taxes were listed for the restaurants. I have never paid taxes on comped rooms before.
     
  13. wormhole

    wormhole VIP Whale

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  14. wormhole

    wormhole VIP Whale

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    I stand corrected. There was only 1 restaurant that did the auto tip, Broadway Burger. I ate there twice (and left a tip on the table both times). That is why there was 2 tip entries. I was going from memory but finally dug out the checkout receipt. There was a tax entry for every place I ate.
     
  15. Julie888

    Julie888 VIP Whale

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    An automatic tip sure isn't expected in the US and I wouldn't think to look for it. Slimy business practice, IMO.

    Taxes I would expect.
     
  16. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    I own multiple businesses, I'm very aware of the sales tax laws. yes, if you collect sales tax from the customer, the state lays claim to it immediately even before you send it to them. so you can't claim it in bankruptcy or something like that before you send it to them.

    however, the bottom line is that the law makes it the responsibility of the business to pay the sales tax to the state regardless of whether they collect it from the customer. that's how some businesses run "no tax" weekends and stuff like that. that's just a sale where they are paying the tax out of the proceeds instead of tacking it on. most businesses pass the tax onto you, but they aren't required to do that. the law does not require the customer to pay the tax, only the business to pay it.
     
  17. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    sounds like more shady NYNY practices to me! there's this host there that continues to send me invites to their property, but I wouldn't stay there in a million years unless they were giving me beaucoup promo chips and even then I would double book at Wynn or something, show up and take the promo chips and leave.
     
  18. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    We may both be correct:

    There are the three general types of sales taxes:

    Seller (vendor) privilege taxes. These taxes are imposed on retailers for the privilege of making retail sales in the state. Retailers usually have the option of absorbing the tax (that is, paying the tax out of their own pockets) or passing it along to their purchasers.

    Consumer excise (sales) taxes. A consumer sales tax is are imposed on the person who makes retail purchases in the state. In the states that impose this type of tax, sellers serve purely as agents who must collect the tax on the state's behalf. Because the tax is primarily the purchaser's responsibility, sellers don't have the option of absorbing the tax and usually must separately state the tax on the receipts or invoices they provide their purchasers.

    Retail transaction taxes. These taxes are imposed on the retail sale transaction itself, with the primary liability for paying the tax falling upon both the sellers and the purchasers. Sellers are responsible for collecting and paying the tax, and purchasers are responsible for paying the tax that the sellers must collect and pay. In essence, this type of sales tax is a hybrid of the other two types. Operationally, however, it's closer to a consumer excise tax because sellers are not given the option to absorb the tax.

    The vast majority of states have a consumer sales tax, where the buyer bears the legal burden of the tax and the seller is required to collect and remit the tax to the state. Few states have the seller privilege tax option. Kentucky, for example, does, but its effectiveness as a marketing tool is limited because advertising the absorption of sales tax by a seller is illegal. A few, such as Michigan, have a privilege tax that is offset by sales tax revenues collected, as an incentive for retailers to collect the correct amount of tax.

    In any event, this part of the discussion is probably boring VMBers to tears, based on the OP's question
     
  19. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    except either way the burden is always on the business to pay the taxes. the state isn't going to come after hundreds of customers if the business doesn't pay, it's going to come to the business for the money.
     
  20. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    Absolutely agreed! In Nevada the "security" deposit/ bond is generally 3 months of expected tax receipts I believe. A business can petition to have that reduced after several years of good payment history.
     
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