EFFECT OF AMUSEMENT TAX

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1922, Page 7

EFFECT OF AMUSEMENT TAX

DEARER ENTERTAINMENTS.

Just how father will feel when th» family now sets out for the pictures or another house of •ntertainment, 4-Post reporter who made inquiries, this morning gathered only iv an indirect way. , Certainly he will have to go deeper into his pocket, for, with, the ejcoepUonf.of » couple of shows, the"managementa"hav» decided to pass the addition.*) amusement tax on to the public. Ealfcrown "seats (plus old tax, 2e 7d) will now coat 2s 9d, Is 6d seats (plus old tax, Is 7d) Is Bd, but the shilling seats will remain a» Before. Practically all showmen are jjgree* that the tax must/ he passed oil; as, they say, was intended, since the ..tax is upon the public and not upon the piu- • ture' house*; but ■ the other view, held by a minority, is thnt the public will so .dislike higher piices that it will pay the management to pay tho extra "taxation and keep, and perhaps add to, its custom. The extra pence will amount to * rather, uncomfortable sum for thosemanagers, as Id in the shilling is roughly 8 pec.cent., and fhaCpercentage out of takings is considerable. „',,..* • "I think the public will stand for th» additional tax," said the manager of one of the bi° city shows. "Perhaps there will be a 1 slight falling away for a. week or sc£ but we "must get "that custom back by tip-too" catering, good pictures, comfortable seating, and good accomm'oda- - tion all round.'' The higher the admission charge th» heavier the tax, for though the penny in the shilling, or fraction of » shilling, holds up .to 4s, an additional single penny per ticket is levied over and above the Id per shilling rate. Thus the' tax on a 3s ticket is 3d, on 4s, 4d, but/ on 5s it 16 6d, on an 8s ticket 9d, and so on. If ever a show opens up with bedrock ' prices, below 9d per ticket, patrons will have no tax to pay, but tlios* good time» are now a long way behind, and still a long way ahead.