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Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
Sales and Use Tax Annotations
A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T U V W X
T
550.0000 Taxable Sales of Food Products—Regulation 1603
Annotation 550.0855
(e) Caterers
550.0855 Rental of Facilities. If a caterer contracts with a facility (room, auditorium, yacht, etc.) owner for the use of the facility for the serving of food by the caterer to the caterer's client, the caterer is considered the equivalent of a restaurant serving food, as opposed to a caterer serving food in a client's facility. Therefore, such a caterer should not be considered as renting props, costumes, displays, and flowers, to the client for the event. The caterer may not purchase or lease such items for resale and may not deduct the amount of the charge for such items related to the service of the food from the caterer's taxable gross receipts. On the other hand, charges for items unrelated to the sale of tangible personal property are not part of the caterer's taxable gross receipts. For example, a charge for costumes for persons serving meals would be taxable while a charge for costumes for entertainers providing optional entertainment would not be taxable. When the facility in which the food service occurs is mobile, such as a yacht or bus, a charge for transportation is nontaxable. However, if the yacht remained moored and was not used for transportation, the charge for its use for food services would be taxable. 11/30/89; 10/25/90.