25 Jan Help! New Bills Introduced to Reverse the ‘Martial Arts tax’

WARNING — Washington State Residents and All Martial Arts Supporters — PLEASE HELP US

We know this is long but please read this.

Because of the unintended consequences of a law passed to simplify Amusement & Recreation in Washington State in 2015 ALL martial arts schools have been forced to charge up to 10% sales tax on their services starting in 2016.  This is NOT normal treatment under state law and affected ONLY martial arts schools and NO OTHER similar businesses like yoga, dance, ballet or gymnastics.

Because of this UNFAIR and MISTAKEN law every single participant easily pays an additional $100-$200.00 PER YEAR in TAX alone.  Imagine the financial damage done to FAMILIES with multiple children enrolled…  Imagine the damage done to martial arts businesses due to loss of members and a slowdown in new participants…

If this doesn’t affect you now it IS affecting your friends and family and WILL affect your children and grandchildren for generations to come.

You can help eliminate this UNFAIR AND UNJUST TAX, remove the obstruction to access of self-defense and martial art training this creates and repair the damage done to the businesses providing these vital services across Washington State.

We REALLY can fix this.

It CAN be done and this post will show you how.  And, all it will take is a couple MINUTES of your time to make a few phone calls and send a couple emails/letters to your legislator, today, and over the next couple months.
The WSMAA has been working with legislators since Oct. 2015 on this issue.  Last year we got 96-0, UNANIMOUS support, in the House last year but couldn’t get a vote in the SENATE for purely political reasons.

But we kept working all summer and fall and we have GOOD NEWS!

RIGHT NOW new legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives AND the Senate to fix this.  There is overwhelming bi-partisan support and dozens of sponsors!  We have Rep. Cindy Ryu in the House and Sen. Judy Warnick in the Senate to thank for being leaders and prime-sponsors.

To assure you this is worth your time —

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Background written by Rep. Cindy Ryu who voted for the legislation that CAUSED this problem AND has sponsored the bills in 2016 and 2017 to FIX IT:

“In 2015, HB 1550 (Carlyle) passed with overwhelming support of the Legislature. The goals were to clarify and fine tune a section of the state tax code by providing an easy to follow list of things that qualify as physical fitness that are subject to sales tax. The rest of the items are classified as service and are not subject to sales tax. The bill did not provide an exemption; we simply tried to clarify what is and is not subject to sales tax.

The unintended consequence was that martial arts lessons became subject to sales tax beginning in January, 2016 – which was never the intention of some of us who voted for HB 1550. Taxing martial arts lessons outside of fitness club settings were never brought up in the 2015 Finance Committee hearing nor during the House Floor debate.  So this bill is trying to put the Martial Arts excise tax status back where they have always been for decades – a service and not subject to sales tax.”

This is from the legislation itself:

“The legislature finds that the sales tax treatment of martial arts training and instruction changed as an unintended consequence of the passage of HB 1550 during the 2015 legislative session. The legislature further finds that under the current sales tax structure, martial arts training and instruction that take place outside of a fitness facility are treated differently from similar activities. It is the intent of the legislature to redefine martial arts training and instruction that take place outside of a fitness facility in order to return these activities to their previous tax treatment.”

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Pretty clear cut but, sadly, it appears one of the bills has already stalled in the House Finance Committee.

As a very small Association we’ve done what we can.

NOW we need YOU to tell YOUR legislators you support this legislation and want a final bill to GET A VOTE on the floor of the House AND Senate as soon as possible.  This is NOT a controversial piece of legislation and shouldn’t be held back to be used in budget negotiations.  This tax is WRONG.  This tax is UNFAIRLY applied.  This tax is DAMAGING small businesses.  Fixing it is their responsibility and is the RIGHT THING to do.

If you think self-defense and martial arts instruction should be treated, and taxed, as an educational SERVICE and NOT a retail item help us help YOU.

Here is what you need to do

1.  Find the two Representatives and Senator from the district where you live.  http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/
2.  IMPORTANT: Only contact YOUR legislators based on your home address. (we made this mistake last year)
3.  Copy and keep their phone, mailing address and email addresses.
4.  Contact your TWO Representatives and ask them to support HB 1032.  Do this by phone, email and letter and even in person if you can!

• Always be calm, respectful and courteous.
• Tell them you are a constituent and where you live.
• Tell them why you feel this shouldn’t have happened in the first place and how disappointed you are it wasn’t fixed last year.
• If you’ve been affected tell them how.
• Tell them you want the House Finance Committee to get it out of committee NOW because it fixes a mistake and is non-controversial.
• Ask them to make sure the House of Representatives gives it a vote on the floor early and before the budget negotiations get out of control.
• Thank them for their support last year.  They voted 96-0!

5. Contact your Senator and ask them to support SB 5220.  Do this by phone, email and letter.

• Always be calm, respectful and courteous.
• Tell them you are a constituent and where you live.
• Tell them how disappointed you are the Senate wouldn’t allow the bill to get a vote last year and why you think fixing it this year is important.
• If you’ve been affected tell them how.
• Tell them you want the Senate Ways & Means committee to give it a public hearing AND get it out of committee NOW because it fixes a mistake and is non-controversial.
• Ask them to make sure the Senate gives it a vote on the floor EARLY before the budget negotiations get out of control.

6.  Pay attention to this issue.  You might need to do this a couple more times.
7.  We may need people to attend a public hearing or a rally at the Capital.
8.  COMMENT on this post.
9.  LIKE and SHARE this post.
10.  LIKE us on Facebook so you see updates.  Help Us Fight For You – Washington State Martial Arts Association
11.  SHARE and LIKE everything we post so we can get the word out.
12.  LEARN more on our website at http://wamartialartsassoc.com/