Variety (April 1918)

VOL. L, No. 6 NEW YORK CITY, FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1918 PRICE TEN CENTS FINAL TICKET TAX RULINGS ARE ISSUED AND FULLY DEFINED Regulations Made Restrictive and Severe for War Revenue Admission Taxes on Theatres and Amusements. Cabarets and Cut-Rate Agencies Included. "Tax Free" Schemes Limited. All Employees Liable to Penalty for Violation. The final regulations on the already far-reaching war revenue admission taxes, on which the Department of Internal Revenue has been at work for the past three months, were ob- tained this week. As the regulations now include almost every form of pub- lic amusement Variety herewith prints the full text of the rulings, especially since an evasion of the law not only makes the manager of an amusement enterprise liable to $1,000 penalty, but the ticket sellers, door tenders and other employees as well. So restrictive and severe are the regulations that the present methods of accounting for the taxes will prob- ably have to he changed or made more efficient to satisfy the collectors under the new rules which are opera- tive at once, being dated April 1. The new regulations now define the duties of collection on the part of ticket agencies and a new relation be- tween them and the theatres. The theatre, when selling to an agency, must collect the tax on the face value of the ticket and the agencies must pay the collector the additional tax on the price obtained from the pur- chaser. Thus will two taxes be col- lected on the same ticket. Cut-rate agencies are also delivered a punch. No matter if tickets are sold for less than their face value the seller must pay to the collector the tax on the face value; that is, if a $2 ticket was sold for $1 at a cut-rate agency the tax on that ticket is 20 cents and not 10 cents. "Tax free" schemes are curtailed, charitable entertainment exemptions are regulated, play pirates dealt a blow, cabaret taxes are gone into minutely, places where dancing is held are included in the tax law, as are road-houses where dancing or enter- tainment is held, and under new regu- lations traveling shows or amusement outfits are made to file a report with the department. Outdodr amusements are gone into, but the ruling here is not exactly clear. Since the text is complete and is valuable for reference the regulations are more easily digestible if set down separately as below. Ligoh Johnson will send out printed copies of the reg- ulations to all members of the U. M. P. A. in a few days. The first paragraph changes some- what the first issued regulations: Every person charging taxable admissions Btaall keep conspicuously posted In his place of business a sign accurately stating the prices charged for admission, the tax due on each admission, and the total of the admis- sion and tax. The tax must be paid on tickets sold and not called for, which the theatre reserves no right to sell. Upon an exchange of tickets for other tickets of a higher price the difference between the tax on the more expensive tickets and the tax already paid shall be collected. Where all the admissions to an entertainment are sold en bloc to a pur- chaser for a specific sum and no charge Is made for Individual tickets the tax is on the price paid on any excess over the purchase price for which he may resell the tickets. Here the ticket agency regulations cover tickets consigned (in which case the manager is held responsible for the tax on the full price paid by the purchaser), those bought outright, in which cases the double tax on tickets operates, and the latter portion makes the cut-rate agencies pay full tax on the face value and not the sale price: Agents and Brokers.—The tax is upon the price paid for admission. In all cases where a broker purchases tickets for resale, with the right to return those not sold, or a rela- tion exists other than that of buyer and seller, the proprietor of the entertainment will be held responsible for collecting the tax on the full price paid by the actual user of the tickets. Independent brokers and dealers In admission tickets must collect and account for the tax on their sales, less the amount of the tax on each ticket collected and accounted for by the amusement enterprise. If a ticket Is sold for use, and not for resale, at less than the face value the tax Is on the price paid, but the seller must collect the tax on tho face value unless he can furnish satisfactory evidence to this department that the presumptive pur- chaser was not on agent of or acting in col- lusion with the seller. Here is defined what amusement "places" are, and also denotes when dancing hall or pavilion admissions are taxable and to what extent: Nature of Admissions Taxed: Amusements and entertainments. The tax Is on the amount paid for admission "to any place." No defini- tion of "place" Is given In the law, but tho context indicates that In general only admls- (Continucd on page 12.) NAT GOODWIN'S DIVORCE CASE. There is a story afloat that there is again a divorce suit pending in the Nat C. Goodwin family. The family at present consists of Goodwin and his latest wife, Marjorie Moreland. The action is said to have been started in New York, but the instigator of it has not been named in the reports. Goodwin is about 60. He is appear- ing in "Why Marry?" at the Astor. It is said Goodwin recently called on his wife unexpectedly one evening down in Washington square and a temporary truce was effected through which Mrs. Goodwin testified for her husband in the action he then had pending against the Mirror Films. The suit was ended the other day when Goodwin recov- ered a judgment for the amount asked from the company, $15,000. The divorce action is reported to have been com- menced since the Washington square incident. Another story is that Goodwin is not adverse to a sixth marriage, and as far as he is concerned sees one in pros- pect, although the mutual consent necessary for the union has not been secured. Miss Moreland, who has appeared with Goodwin on the stage, is nis fifth wife. Among the more prominent of the Mrs. Goodwins were Maxine Elliott and Edna Goodrich. Eliza Weathersby was the first Mrs. Nat C WEEDING 'EM OUT. Following communications passed between the Vaudeville Managers' Pro- tective Association and the officials of the Government, an official of the Secret Service Department visited that organization this week to make ar- rangements for a wholesale investiga- tion of vaudeville in so far as pro- German artists are concerned. Numerous complaints have reached the Intelligence Department containing the names of artists whose tendencies seemed to lean toward the enemy. M*nv of those complaints were passed up for obvious reasons, but Secret Service men, investigating various vaudeville programs, have compiled a list of artists whose conversations and general actions seemed inimical to the best interests of the country. It is believed these individuals will be quickly rounded up and will disap- pear from vaudeville, at least until after the war. THEATRE TAX INCREASE? Washington. April 3. It is reported the present Congress may decide to increase the current taxation on theatre tickets, takirfg general effect upon all amusements as the present one does. One report is that the tax may go to 20 per cent. It is now 10 per cent. LOS ANGELES NEAR-DRY. Los Angeles, April 3. Los Angeles is driest since the first days of its existence, as the Pueblo- town saloons went out Saturday at midnight. The "wets" lost their appeal for a stay late Saturday and the saloonists* hopes were shattered. Restaurants, hoot owls, etc., are bob- bing up today in their places. Cafes will be permitted to sell light wines and beers until nine o'clock. The law does not affect roadhouses in the country or the beach resorts. A big celebration ushered in the dry period. Indianapolis, April 3. Indianapolis became a dry town yes- terday. So did the State. PAYING BERNHARDT DAILY. New Orleans, April 3. The Orpheum Circuit theatres, where Mme. Bernhardt is now appearing, pay salary daily to the star, sending the amount to her dressing room each 24 hours. Mme. Bernhardt pays her company similarly, also all bills presented to her. The great French actress has contracted the habit of having a clean financial slate daily. It is a custom she has always in- sisted upon when touring in this country. TANGUAY'S DAILY EXERCISE Through a pedometer, Eva Tanguay has found she moves about on an aver- age three and one-quarter miles during the time of her vaudeville act. As Miss Tanguay appears twice daily her sum total of pedal action is six and one-half miles. The general program billing for Tanguay is "The Cyclonic Come- dienne.' WHERE CHORUS GIRLS GO. If chorus girls have been scarce this season, they are growing more so daily as the word is being passed along by those who have withdrawn from that field of artistic endeavor to the far more lucrative occupation of laboring in munition factories. Managers of musical shows com- plain that when playing in or near South Bethlehem, Pa., of late, a goodly percentage of "Merry, Merry" quit, making all sorts of excuses of illness of relatives, etc. Investigation dis- closed they headed direct for ihe mu- nition factories where it is understood alert, intelligent girls are making from $6 to $11 a day. Boob or Rube, Cha». Althoff topi 'cm alL