What kinda tax and fees does CA have for commercial arcade games?

stealthie

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What kinda tax and fees does CA have for commercial arcade games?

I saw this in a thread before, but can't seem to find it again or find anything on the internet about it.

Anyways I'm gonna be opening a small burger place/grill here within the next year or so, about 5 or so tables and a counter, and am trying to figure out all the costs. I would like to have about 5ish games there just to entertain while they wait for their food and to try to recreate the feel of the local burger joint we had here I always went to was growing up. Anyone know the yearly amount per game in CA? I was also thinking about free play since I remember reading that gets around the taxes and such.

But I was thinking like a Ms Pacman, DK/D2K, maybe a SFII since that was at my old burger place, maybe MKII. IDK.
 
As mentioned many times before, it all depends on your locality. Check your city and county business license office first. Then check with the state business office to see if you must pay sales tax on the income from the machines. Also ask how often licenses must be purchased. In general, they are yearly, but in some localities they may be quarterly, or even monthly. You may be required to post the license on _each_ machine.

Here in Washington state we must pay sales tax on all money collected from arcade, amusement, redemption, and vending machines dependent upon the location of the machine (city or county). The City of Seattle has very high "per machine" license fees each year.
 
let us know when it opens.
I will do what I can to buy all my burgers at your joint!!
 
just wait till after al your permits pass and you are open then throw the games in. no one will bitch just claim them on your taxes assome kind of income. it is cash and a small amount you wont need a permit for that in your own business.
 
It depends

I saw this in a thread before, but can't seem to find it again or find anything on the internet about it.

Anyways I'm gonna be opening a small burger place/grill here within the next year or so, about 5 or so tables and a counter, and am trying to figure out all the costs. I would like to have about 5ish games there just to entertain while they wait for their food and to try to recreate the feel of the local burger joint we had here I always went to was growing up. Anyone know the yearly amount per game in CA? I was also thinking about free play since I remember reading that gets around the taxes and such.

But I was thinking like a Ms Pacman, DK/D2K, maybe a SFII since that was at my old burger place, maybe MKII. IDK.

Stealthie,

What area of Sac are you planning to open in? Is it Sac City or Sac County? If you are opening within the "city" of Sacramento you will have to get an Amusement license for anything OVER 10 machines. That doesn't seem to be what you will have. If you are in Sacramento County, as long as the machines are not a "game of chance", so just a regular arcade machine or pinball you will not be required to get a license because the number of machines is so low. Also, provide a "change" machine if possible. Believe it or not there is a part in the CA tax code that mentions if you provide change from your "till" for use with "entertainment devices" then you cannot write off any "loses" sustained from the machines. Providing a change machine gets past the tax law and allows you to give "refunds" to customers and then actually count it as a "loss" on your taxes. It may only be a small amount but it is nice to have the option.
Anyway, I have a bunch of info on this since I am looking into opening an Amusement Center in Placer County. We won't have burger, so I will need to come to YOUR place to get my burger fix!! If you need some info just let me know. I would be happy to share what I have found out so far. But with only 5 machines you shouldn't need a license in Sac. Now, Placer County is another story. They are pains in the arse! hehe

Good Luck!!! Can't wait to see the place!! I will send everyone I know to you!!! Gotta share the KLOV LOVE!

Jess
 
Stealthie,

What area of Sac are you planning to open in? Is it Sac City or Sac County? If you are opening within the "city" of Sacramento you will have to get an Amusement license for anything OVER 10 machines. That doesn't seem to be what you will have. If you are in Sacramento County, as long as the machines are not a "game of chance", so just a regular arcade machine or pinball you will not be required to get a license because the number of machines is so low. Also, provide a "change" machine if possible. Believe it or not there is a part in the CA tax code that mentions if you provide change from your "till" for use with "entertainment devices" then you cannot write off any "loses" sustained from the machines. Providing a change machine gets past the tax law and allows you to give "refunds" to customers and then actually count it as a "loss" on your taxes. It may only be a small amount but it is nice to have the option.
Anyway, I have a bunch of info on this since I am looking into opening an Amusement Center in Placer County. We won't have burger, so I will need to come to YOUR place to get my burger fix!! If you need some info just let me know. I would be happy to share what I have found out so far. But with only 5 machines you shouldn't need a license in Sac. Now, Placer County is another story. They are pains in the arse! hehe

Good Luck!!! Can't wait to see the place!! I will send everyone I know to you!!! Gotta share the KLOV LOVE!

Jess

I'm planning on opening in Roseville, hopefully on Douglas. That was kinda my vision, but that will most likely change. But Roseville/Placer country is the plan at the moment, sucks that they are more strict. I was debating whether a change machine would be necessary, but I'll def go with one now. Shouldn't have a problem keeping the total count to under 10, but I thought I could keep my personal collection to 1 or 2 and it's already over that. If I have any questions I'll be sure you ask you, and another amusement center sounds awesome. Keep us posted on that.

let us know when it opens.
I will do what I can to buy all my burgers at your joint!!

what kind of drinks are you going to have?

milkshakes or beer?

I will let you all know when I get it open. Although I would love to serve beer I still need to look into liqueur licenses and all that. I'm not to sure if it will really be needed, so I might just stick to quality milkshakes and Bulldog root beer from the tap and root beer floats. Man I love that stuff.

Monthly Klov meetings at Stealthie's burger joint so all of us can catch up..I need to see the sac guys more often....

Now that sounds like a great idea.
 
There is a guy over off Watt in Sac that runs the snack shop at the softball fields and he has about 5 or 6 games and he doesn't pay a fee for running them.... The softball fields are run by the city and they have never said anything about his machines in there...
 
License

I'm planning on opening in Roseville, hopefully on Douglas. That was kinda my vision, but that will most likely change. But Roseville/Placer country is the plan at the moment, sucks that they are more strict. I was debating whether a change machine would be necessary, but I'll def go with one now. Shouldn't have a problem keeping the total count to under 10, but I thought I could keep my personal collection to 1 or 2 and it's already over that. If I have any questions I'll be sure you ask you, and another amusement center sounds awesome. Keep us posted on that.





I will let you all know when I get it open. Although I would love to serve beer I still need to look into liqueur licenses and all that. I'm not to sure if it will really be needed, so I might just stick to quality milkshakes and Bulldog root beer from the tap and root beer floats. Man I love that stuff.




Now that sounds like a great idea.

The alchohol license in Placer County is done by a lottery system only and they run around $125,000 for a beer/tap license and around $175,000 for a beer/wine/hard alcohol license. Crazy! Anyway, you pay a retainer to the County and then your biz name is placed in a "lottery" system for that year. I can't remember how many names they are drawing for 2010...I think they told me four names...but I am not having alcohol so I don't really remember..
 
The alchohol license in Placer County is done by a lottery system only and they run around $125,000 for a beer/tap license and around $175,000 for a beer/wine/hard alcohol license. Crazy! Anyway, you pay a retainer to the County and then your biz name is placed in a "lottery" system for that year. I can't remember how many names they are drawing for 2010...I think they told me four names...but I am not having alcohol so I don't really remember..

That's kinda what I've been hearing. No big deal I can do without selling alcohol cause my food is pretty delicious.
 
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