Major tax hike on concert tickets

From January 1 2007, any concert or event that sells ‘substantial snacks, hot food or alcoholic drink’ will be obliged to include the 13.5% that restaurants currently charge.
This means that everything from festivals like Oxegen to pub gigs would see a significant increase in ticket prices – which will no doubt be passed directly on to the ticket buyer.
Holohan Event Management chairman Gar Holohan told the Irish Independent that the increase would have raised €700,000 for the Government from last weekend's Electric Picnic alone.
However, some live events like plays and opera would remain exempt on the basis that food and drink are not served during the performance.