Editing Openai/69177b63-caec-8000-a009-8936c37238c5 (section)

===== Given your description: you hold a tournament, entry fee is required, prizes are involved (though not guaranteed for every entrant). If you structure it clearly as a contest and the fee covers costs of prizes/organization and you can show the fee is above just “normal facility rental,” there’s a strong argument the fee may not be taxable under the “entry fee” exception. =====

However — if the fee is essentially just for venue access (and doesn’t clearly allocate to contest/prize costs) or the tournament looks more like an “admission to participate in a recreational game” (which in Texas is often taxable as an amusement service) then you likely do need to charge sales tax on that entry fee.

If you like, I can look up any recent Texas Comptroller rulings specific to trading-card game tournaments (or similar “entry fee gaming/contest” situations) and we can see how they’ve ruled on analogous facts. Would you like me to do that?