Payment for admission to entertainment includes mandatory minimum charges linked to cabaret entry, making entertainments tax payable.

Minimum charges collected by a restaurant for entry to a cabaret were treated as payment for admission to entertainment where attendance was conditional on paying those amounts, even if they were adjustable against food bills. The statutory definition covered payments connected with entertainment that a person was required to make as a condition of attending or continuing to attend it. On those facts, the charges were not merely restaurant charges but formed part payment for admission, so entertainments tax was payable and the conviction and sentence were upheld.

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Issues: Whether the minimum charges collected by the restaurant constituted payment for admission to an entertainment so as to attract liability to entertainments tax under the Act.

Analysis: The statutory scheme levied tax on payments for admission to entertainment, and the definition of payment for admission extended to any payment connected with entertainment which a person was required to make as a condition of attending or continuing to attend it. The cabaret was an entertainment, and the customers were required to pay minimum amounts whether or not they consumed food, even though those amounts were adjustable against meals. On the facts, the payment was not a mere restaurant charge but a condition for attending the entertainment and for entering the place where it was held.

Conclusion: The minimum charges were part payment for admission to the entertainment and entertainments tax was payable; the conviction and sentence were upheld and the appeal was dismissed.

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