New York State Is Attempting to Tax Its Yoga Studios

Posted by AccountingWEB on 1875 printer friendly
By Terri Eyden
 
Last year, after the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (part of the New York Education Department) attempted to subject yoga studios to licensing regulations, the proposed "Yoga Bill" was signed into law by Governor Paterson on March 24, 2010. The bill exempts yoga and martial arts studios from state educational certification.
 
Now, New York wants to tax yoga studios by: 
  • Auditing them under the claim they should be subject to the same 4.5 percent tax and the same regulations as fitness studios (versus dance or movement studios).
  • Forcing yoga studios to treat instructors as employees rather than independent contractors. 
  • Labeling yoga studios as fitness studios, which are required to pay licensing fees. 
 
Yoga for NY, a nonprofit that lobbied to get the original Yoga Bill passed last year, is attempting to prevent these tax measures from passing based on the following issues:  
  • Yoga classes are not specifically listed among the services and classes that are taxable; therefore, the matter is open to interpretation.
  • The proposed 4.5 percent tax would equate to studios needing to increase their class fees by about $1 for a every $20 class, a cost that would then be passed on to students.
  • Only the largest studios could survive if burdened with the thousands of dollars it would cost if independent contractors were to become employees. 
 
The bottom line: Yoga classes in New York could become much more expensive for both studio owners and students. 
 
Related articles:

 

Tags 
Careers
Income tax
Legislation
State 
New York

Voice of the Editor

Even though any accounting auditor would tell you it seems like there are an awful lot of tax accountants out there, surely one-third of the country isn't made up of tax preparers, so it's rather startling news to learn that one-third of Americans like to do their taxes. Who knew?
Read more
Gail Perry, CPA
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB
editor@accountingweb.com
ADVERTISEMENT

This Week on AccountingWEB

Bill Walter of Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates and Harold Gaar of TravisWolff LLP weigh in on mobile technology use while employees are at work.
WestArk RSVP and Fayette County Community Action Agency – organizations that received grant funding through the IRS Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program – spoke with AccountingWEB about how they assist senior citizens in their communities.
CPA Robert Raiola, who heads the Sports & Entertainment Group of Fazio, Mannuzza, Roche, Tankel, LaPilusa, LLC, talks NFL player income taxes with AccountingWEB.
Retiring KPMG Centennial Professor of Accounting at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business Robert May, PhD talks with AccountingWEB about his rewarding forty-three-year career.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT