By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
NEWBURY – Vail Resorts, the owner of several New Hampshire ski areas and the state’s lease holder of Mount Sunapee Resort, reacted Tuesday to Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s announcement Monday the state is investigating sales taxes being collected in its “Epic” season pass.
They said they don’t collect sales tax on passes specific to New Hampshire resorts. New Hampshire has no sales or income tax.
But ski areas in other states where the passes are valid do have sales taxes. Vail is based in Colorado.
Vail Resorts owns and operates Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch, Attitash in Bartlett, and Crotched Mountain in Bennington and Francestown.
The company also operates Mount Sunapee under a leasing agreement with the State of New Hampshire.
In March of this year, the company disclosed in an investor presentation that it would begin charging a “blended” sales tax rate of 3.2% on all multi-resort Epic pass products, which appears to include those sold in (and even those potentially only used in) New Hampshire.
Ayotte said in a statement Monday, “We’re not going to let an out-of-state company try to sneak one in…The Attorney General will thoroughly investigate Vail Resorts’ attempt to charge a sales tax on Granite State skiers. We’ll continue to ensure New Hampshire is America’s best place to ski — sales tax-free.”
Courtney DiFiore, senior communications manager for Vail in the Northeast United States responded with a statement.
“We are pleased to provide a wide variety of options for our guests to access our resorts by offering both lift tickets that are resort-specific and passes that provide access to multiple resorts.
“Vail Resorts does not charge tax on New Hampshire goods or services, including on lift tickets that provide access to our New Hampshire resorts.
“The Epic Pass and Northeast Value Pass include access to resorts outside of New Hampshire, so those pass products do include the sales and admission taxes that we are legally required to charge for those resorts. It’s important to note that our passes are priced very competitively, even including the allocated sales tax, and provide more choice than other season passes with access to only New Hampshire resorts.
“We value our relationship with our New Hampshire guests and community and are in contact with the Governor’s Office and Attorney General’s offices,” DiFiore wrote.
Last summer, Governor Ayotte, who is an avid skier, joined with the Executive Council for a meeting at Mount Sunapee and a tour of the facilities which have been leased for more than two decades with the proceeds of its rent going to help capitalize state owned and operated Cannon Mountain in Franconia.
Vail took over the long term lease from the Mueller family who had owned Okemo Mountain Resort.
The Epic Pass the governor refers to sells for a little more than $1,000 but provides access to Vail Resorts across the world. Vail also offers season passes at its New Hampshire ski areas.