Does amusement tax cover golf courses?
A golf course does not qualify as a "place of amusement," which may be
subjected to amusement tax by a local government unit.
Section 140 of the LGC provides amusement tax on theaters, cinemas, concert
halls, circuses, boxing stadia and other places of amusement. “Other places of
amusement” pertains to venues where one seeks admission to entertain oneself
by seeing or viewing the show or performances or being venues primarily used
to stage spectacles or hold public show and other events meant to be viewed by
an audience. A golf course cannot be considered a place of amusement. People
go to a golf course to enjoy themselves in a physical sports activity, the
same reason why people go to a gym or court to play badminton or tennis or to
a shooting range for target practice. They do not enter a golf course to see
or view a show or performance. (Alta Vista Golf and Country Club v. The City
of Cebu et al., G.R. No. 180235, 20 January 2016)
As defined in The New Oxford American Dictionary, 'show' means "a spectacle or
display of something, typically an impressive one"; while 'performance' means
"an act of staging or presenting a play, a conceit, or other form of
entertainment." As such, the ordinary definitions of the words 'show' and
'performance' denote not only visual engagement (i.e., the seeing or viewing
of things) but also active doing (e.g., displaying, staging or presenting)
such that actions are manifested to, and (correspondingly) perceived by an
audience.
In Philippine Basketball Association v. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 119122,
August 8, 2000), the Supreme Court had an opportunity to interpret a starkly
similar provision or the counterpart provision of Section 140 of the LGC in
the Local Tax Code then in effect. Petitioner Philippine Basketball
Association (PBA) contended that it was subject to the imposition by LGUs of
amusement taxes (as opposed to amusement taxes imposed by the national
government). In support of its contentions, it cited Section 13 of
Presidential Decree No. 231, otherwise known as the Local Tax Code of 1973,
(which is analogous to Section 140 of the LGC) providing the following:
Section 13. Amusement tax on admission. — The province shall impose a tax on admission to be collected from the proprietors, lessees, or operators of theaters, cinematographs, concert halls, circuses and other places of amusement xxx.
Applying the principle of ejusdem generis, the Supreme Court rejected PBA's
assertions and noted that:
[I]n determining the meaning of the phrase 'other places of amusement', one must refer to the prior enumeration of theaters, cinematographs, concert halls and circuses with artistic expression as their common characteristic. Professional basketball games do not fall under the same category as theaters, cinematographs, concert halls and circuses as the latter basically belong to artistic forms of entertainment while the former caters to sports and gaming.