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Eventbrite to tax Chicago ticket-buyers 9%

Eventbrite is set to begin collecting nine per cent tax on all Chicago-based events listed on its platform.

The city-wide amusement tax will apply to all Eventbrite events starting on May 2.

The ticketing platform jumps on board with other online companies, such as Sony PlayStation users as part of the so-called ‘Netflix tax’ expansion.

Disney Plus users will also face the same nine per cent tax on any purchases, though the tax has been involved in litigation and is rather controversial in nature.

Chicago’s amusement tax originally applied to concert and sporting event tickets, but the Chicago Department of Finance ruled in 2015 that the tax covered streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Spotify.

The Liberty Justice Center sued the city on behalf of online streaming service customers to stop implementation of the expanded tax. It argued that the tax was “illegal and unconstitutional under state and federal law.”

However, in May 2018 a judge ruled in favour of Chicago, which the Liberty Justice Center appealed. The case is still pending before the First District Court of Appeals.

Technology giant Apple also filed a lawsuit against the city in August 2018 on the grounds that the tax violates the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

Image: Eventbrite