Nueces County Tax Assessor-Collector

Coin-Operated Machine Permit (County Occupation Tax)

A business in Nueces County that keeps a coin-operated music, skill or pleasure machine, such as a jukebox, pool table or arcade game, buys an annual county permit for each machine from the Tax Assessor-Collector at 901 Leopard, Suite 301, (361) 888-0425. The Tax Office's coin-operated machine permit page sets $15.00 per machine for the calendar year, prorated to $11.25, $7.50 and $3.75 for purchases in the second, third and fourth quarters, and $5.00 for a replacement permit, which requires a police report. Permits go on sale December 1 and must be on the machine by January 1. Occupations Code section 2153.451 lets a county levy this occupation tax at no more than one-fourth of the $60 state tax in section 2153.401, so $15.00 is the statutory maximum, and the page's quarterly figures match the proration in section 2153.403. The page lists exempt machines: those not operated by coin, cigarette vending machines, service or merchandise vending machines, and children's amusement machines.