Vail Resorts Makes Pass Adjustments In Response To New Hampshire Investigation
New Hampshire — The relationship between the state of New Hampshire and Vail Resorts surprisingly turned sour this week. The announcement that the New Hampshire Attorney General is investigating Vail Resorts over applying sales tax to local purchases shocked some people. NH doesn’t have a sales tax, so applying it to Epic Pass is making the state allege that they’re breaking the law. Vail Resorts initially said they needed to keep these taxes in place, but they have since adjusted their strategy to offer passes for NH-only mountains.
Yesterday, Vail Resorts announced that it is removing the sales tax on a select number of passes for New Hampshire skiers. These passes have a focus on access to only the New Hampshire mountains.
Vail Resorts’ statement is below.
“We understand the concerns raised by Governor Ayotte and appreciate the feedback from the New Hampshire community. While we provide lift tickets without taxes for our resorts in New Hampshire, we understand that some guests plan to use our multi-resort pass products to only access our four New Hampshire resorts (Attitash Mountain, Wildcat, Mount Sunapee and Crotched).
In response to these concerns, we are happy to offer Pass Holders the option to limit their access to our New Hampshire resorts only and forego a tax on their pass. The following passes are eligible for this option:
- Northeast Value Pass – $662 (adults), $497 (teens, young adults & seniors)*
- Northeast Midweek Pass – $497 (adults), $367 (seniors)
- Epic Military Pass – Starting at $215
- Epic Day Pass (local resort access) – As low as $46/day
Importantly, even with access limited to our four New Hampshire resorts, the Northeast Value Pass at $662 provides incredible value and costs significantly less than other multi-resort season passes in New Hampshire. It also costs less than most single-resort season passes in the state.
Guests who are interested in a pass with only New Hampshire access and no taxes should fill out this form. Guests who have already purchased an eligible pass can also use this form to request a refund of the tax paid and an adjustment to their resort access.
*New Hampshire Only Child Passes will be available for $425”
It should be noted that not all passes are covered by this updated plan. The most extensive passes, such as the Epic Pass and Epic Local Pass, aren’t covered under this policy. However, the mountains included there are more widespread.
It’s a smart follow-up move by Vail Resorts, but it’s unclear whether it will be enough to stop the State of New Hampshire’s investigation.
Image Credits: Ian Wood, Vail Resorts
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