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Sex shops that show movies in cubicles are not entitled to charge their customers at a lower sales tax rate meant for cinemas. BRUSSELS (AP) — Sex shops that show movies in cubicles are not entitled to charge their customers at a lower sales tax rate meant for cinemas, the EU high court ruled March 18.

The court said Belgium was right in 2004 to recoup almost €50,000 ($70,000) in unpaid value added taxes from the "Erotic Center," a sex shop in the city of Ghent.

The store charged customers only a 6 percent VAT tax, not the usual 21 percent, because it claimed its cubicles are actually cinemas. Culture, sports and entertainment venues are taxed at the reduced rate.

The Court of Justice of the European Union said a pornographic film cubicle is not a theater because it is private, coin-operated and lets viewers switch from one movie to another.

Public cinemas, the Luxembourg-based court added, "are available to the public on prior payment of an admission fee giving all those who pay it the right collectively" to watch the same movie.

The sex shop case came to the EU high court after a Belgian appeal court asked for a ruling on tax exemptions.

In 2004, the Belgian government billed the Erotic Center €48,454 — the amount in tax evaded in the first half of that year — plus a fine of €4,840.