Politics & Government

Take a Deep Breath: DC Passes 'Yoga Tax'

Tax starts Oct. 1 and hits gym memberships and fitness classes.

Take a deep cleansing breath ... and exhale.

DC's City Council on Tuesday passed a controversial "yoga tax" to generate an annual $5 million to offset tax cuts, according to a report in The Washington Post.

Yoga and other workout aficionados showed up at D.C. Council chambers, wearing exercise gear to object to the so-called "wellness tax" or "yoga tax," the newspaper reported.

Starting October 1, gym memberships and fitness classes will start adding a 5.75 percent sales tax to their services, under the fiscal 2015 budget the DC Council approved.

The tax should bring in plenty of dough. The Washington D.C. region ranked first for fitness among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, according to a survey by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said concerns about the 5.75 percent sales tax discouraging gym memberships are unfounded. "We have a sales tax on restaurants and alcohol that's significantly greater...and we have seen restaurant activity boom over the last several years in the District," the Post reported him as saying.

The budget resolution is headed for Mayor Vincent Gray's desk. Gray has said he is against the tax.

The Wall Street Journal reports that yoga enthusiasts have an idea for how to win back their tax-exempt status: Classify yoga as a religious activity, which by definition can't be taxed.


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