Your favorite Las Vegas festivals will soon be subject to new Nevada tax law
Come October, large scale events hosted in Nevada that exceed 15,000 people — including outdoor events, strip clubs, escort services and nonprofits — will be subject to a 9% tax. The new law will replace the currently instated two-tier tax, which, according to state lawmakers, offered too many exemptions and exclusions.
Festivals that could be affected by this new tax include Burning Man, Electric Daisy Carnival, iHeartRadio and Rock in Rio, to name a few. In other words, a $32 tax could soon be tacked on to a GA ticket to EDC that would have originally costed around $360. Citing the tax as “extremely detrimental,” EDC’s organizers have already responded to the new law with disapproval.
“We have to build a city from scratch for 140,000 people,” Pasquale Rotella commented. “It’s a huge gamble.”
While Rotella has no intention of uprooting EDC, he would have no problem doing so if it were to make sense financially. He worries that an additional 9% tax would highly discourage fans from purchasing tickets in the coming years, and would negatively impact the growth of new events in the area.
Senator Mark Lipparrelli, a Las Vegas Republican who helped push the bill alongside Democratic Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, claims that the modification will help “broaden the tax base and avoid double-taxing purchases at some events by newly exempting food, beverage and merchandise.”
While Nevada’s new tax laws certainly won’t signal the demise of festivals in the area, electronic music fans may have to prepare to shell out a few extra dollars if they want to continue participating in their favorite events.
Categories: Music