Can a venue charge sales tax on the fee for the space?

Yes

I would assume so...the room IS the good. We have taxes charged on ours.

Karen, I am not in WI but I do research tax laws on occasion. You may want to check out sales tax publication 201, section X, which describes which items are taxable in WI. On page 33 of the publication (section X, B.1) it states that access privileges to certain facilities to be used for entertainment or recreational purpose is subject to sales tax. Your venue may fall into this category.

Here is the other question...can they charge sales tax on the 18% service fee? It states that this is not labor or gratuity. I'm not sure exactly what it includes but we were told that the staff is paid a livable wage (ie $15/hour) so we don't have to give an additional tip unless we want to.

It all seems fishy to me and she hasn't been very communicative. We still have only paid them the $500 deposit and I don't want to be whipping out my checkbook to write an $8000 check at the end of my wedding reception. I have asked her 3 times how to handle the payment and she has not answered that question each time. I'm starting to get frustrated!

Most venues will be charging sales tax even if it is a government building. As for service fees, I'm not sure as my venue didn't have a service charge on top of it.

Service fees (for caterers) usually include cake cutting and wine corking. Taxes will vary from state to state. I don't see tax on venue rental here (unless it is included in the cost), but it might be different for you.

Here in Nebraska we were quoted for tax on all of that. I'm assuming that service fee would be something like wine corking, cake cutting or cleaning of the rental space. If this is the case then yes, they can, and should tax it. (at least here in Nebraska)

I was told by a coordinator a venue I visited that they were not allowed to charge tax on what they were charging to rent the space. (They were audited by our state auditors.) They now list the tax as a "room fee" to get around it.

I just double-checked some of my estimates and my actual venue contract and there are no fees or taxes included for the venue here in SC.

In Kansas I own a Wedding Venue and a Wedding Rental Company. I called the State of Kansas and for the Venue we do not need to charge sales tax on the building. If we offer other services we have to pay sales tax on those services. For the Rental company if I pay for the sales tax when I purchase the product I do not need to charge customers for this tax again. www.rustic-timbers.com