Chicago Amusement Tax: Rates, Exemptions, and Social Media Levy

The Chicago amusement tax is a city surcharge on paid entertainment, charged at 9% on most in-person amusements like concerts, sporting events, theater, and movies, and at 10.25% on electronically delivered amusements such as streaming video, streaming music, and online games. Resold tickets carry a lower 3% rate.¹ The tax is authorized under Chapter 4-156 of the Chicago Municipal Code, collected by the business or venue, and remitted to the city’s Department of Finance.²

What the Tax Applies To

Chicago defines “amusement” broadly. It covers paid entertainment whether you watch from a seat or take part yourself. Live theater, concerts, professional sports, movies, comedy shows, tours, cruises, and cover charges at bars all trigger the tax.³ Participatory activities like bowling and billiards do too, when you pay a fee to play.⁴

The definition also reaches into your living room. Paid television programming delivered by cable, satellite, or any other transmission method is taxable, and so are streaming video services, streaming audio services, and online games played on any device.⁴ That reach is what earned the amusement tax its “Netflix tax” nickname. The city uses the customer’s location as the taxable connection, so a Netflix, Spotify, or Xbox Game Pass subscription billed to a Chicago address carries the charge even if the provider sits in California.

The Three Rates

9% on admission fees for in-person amusements including concerts, sporting events, theater, movies, pub crawls, and recreational activities.¹
10.25% on charges for electronically delivered amusements, including paid TV programming, video and audio streaming, and online games.¹
3% on ticket resales through the secondary market, collected by the resale platform or registered reseller.⁵

If the original ticket sale was exempt from the amusement tax, that exemption carries over to the resale as well.¹

Who Doesn’t Pay

Chicago grants a handful of exemptions, but each one is narrower than it sounds.

Small Live Venues

Live theatrical, musical, or cultural performances in a venue with a maximum capacity of 1,500 or fewer, counting all balconies and sections, are exempt.¹ The key word is “live.” Movies, sporting events, pub crawls, and similar entertainment stay taxable at 9% no matter how small the room.³

Nonprofit Fundraisers

Religious, charitable, and educational nonprofits can run exempt fundraising amusements, but only two per calendar year, totaling no more than 14 calendar days.⁶ At least 10% of gross revenues from the event must go exclusively to the exempt entity.¹ The organization has to file an Amusement Tax Exemption Application with the Department of Finance before the event, not after.⁷ Skip the paperwork or go over the two-event limit and the standard 9% rate applies.

Health Club Memberships

Membership dues to health clubs, racquetball clubs, tennis clubs, and similar organizations are exempt, as long as the club operates on a membership basis for its members’ recreational use. Per-event or drop-in fees are not covered. A gym that charges a one-time drop-in fee has to collect the tax on it.⁸

What This Tax Isn’t: The PPLTT

Cloud services often get lumped in with the amusement tax, but Chicago uses a separate levy for software access. The Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (PPLTT) applies when a customer remotely accesses software hosted on a provider’s server to input, modify, or retrieve their own data. As of January 1, 2026, the PPLTT rate on these non-possessory computer leases is 15%.⁹

The dividing line is use. Watching a movie on Netflix is consuming entertainment, so it falls under the amusement tax at 10.25%. Using cloud accounting software to process invoices is accessing a tool, so it falls under the PPLTT at 15%. Some products straddle the line, and the Department of Finance makes case-by-case determinations.

The New Social Media Amusement Tax

Effective January 1, 2026, Chicago’s FY26 budget created a Social Media Amusement Tax, sometimes called the SMAT. It targets for-profit social media companies that collect consumer data from more than 100,000 Chicago users in a calendar year. The rate is $0.50 per month for each Chicago consumer above that 100,000 threshold, with payments due by the 15th of the following month. Violations carry fines of $2,500 to $10,000 per offense, assessed daily. Industry groups have already filed legal challenges arguing the tax conflicts with federal law, so its long-term future is unsettled.

If You Operate a Taxable Amusement

Any business running a taxable amusement in Chicago has to register for an amusement tax account. That means getting an Illinois Business Tax number from the Illinois Department of Revenue, then creating an account on the Chicago Business Direct portal and filing Form 7510, the Application for Amusement Tax License.⁷

Monthly tax payments are due on or before the 15th of the month following the month the liability was incurred. The annual return covers the fiscal year of July 1 through June 30 and is due by August 15, filed electronically through Chicago Business Direct.¹⁰ Hold on to detailed records of gross receipts and admission counts to back up both filings.

Penalties for Missing Payments

A late monthly payment triggers a 5% penalty on the tax due, plus interest accruing at 12% annually on the unpaid balance. If the city finds the business was negligent or willfully failed to pay or remit, Chicago’s Uniform Revenue Procedures Ordinance adds a penalty of 25% of the tax due. A business that collects the amusement tax from customers and then fails to send it to the city faces a penalty of 50% of the total collected and not remitted.

Cook County Charges Its Own Tax

Chicago isn’t the only taxing body in the picture. Cook County imposes a separate amusement tax with its own rates, filing requirements, and exemptions. A venue or operator inside Chicago may owe both. Confirm your obligations with the Chicago Department of Finance and the Cook County Department of Revenue before you file.

1
American Legal Publishing Corporation. Municipal Code of Chicago 4-156-020 – Tax Imposed
2
American Legal Publishing Corporation. Municipal Code of Chicago – Chapter 4-156 Amusements
3
City of Chicago. Chicago Amusement Tax General Information
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American Legal Publishing. Municipal Code of Chicago 4-156-010 – Definitions
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City of Chicago. Secondary Ticket Market Tax
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City of Chicago. Amusement Tax
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City of Chicago. Tax Exemptions and Registration Certificates
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City of Chicago. Amusement Tax Ruling 1
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City of Chicago. Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax
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City of Chicago. Chicago Amusement Tax General Information