Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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D.C. Council upholds “yoga tax”

Doing a downward dog in the District will likely get a little pricier.

The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to uphold a 5.75 percent sales tax on gym memberships, yoga studios and fitness classes.

Nine of the 13 Council members supported the budget provision, though At-Large Council member David Catania called it a “penny-wise and pound-foolish proposition” that would discourage people from heading to the gym. Catania, an independent, is also running for mayor.

Mayor Vincent Gray has opposed the tax, which is meant to partially offset a larger package of cuts that could put $1.43 million back in taxpayers’ pockets each year. Once the cuts are implemented, residents earning less than $500,000 a year will pay a hundreds of dollars less in taxes.

While critics have called it a “yoga tax,” it also applies to tanning salons, car washes, carpet cleaners and bowling alleys.

Twenty-two states tax gym memberships, including Minnesota, Connecticut and New Mexico, the Washingtonian reported.

A petition that slams the tax earned more than 3,940 signatures, and the provision even made it to the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Protestors filled the Council chamber Tuesday and lined up outside the John A. Wilson building to demonstrate against it.

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