Backlash From Health Clubs
A proposal to apply the state sales tax to health club memberships has exercised fitness buffs in Maryland.
As the result of a lobbying campaign orchestrated by health clubs, lawmakers are getting a raft of email protesting Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to starting collecting sales tax on gym memberships. The sales tax rate is currently 5 percent but would rise to 6 percent under a separate proposal.
"I AM FAT AND TRY TO WORK OUT," a Silver Spring resident wrote to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), threatening to cancel his gym membership if lawmakers pass O'Malley's plan. "IF YOU TAX, I COULD DIE BECAUSE I WILL NOT PAY THIS TAX."
House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) received an appeal from a mother of two in Arnold who joined a gym after her husband was deployed to Iraq.
"On a military salary, we can barely afford to add the gym to our lifestyle," she wrote. "It has, however, changed our lives. I now set a good healthy example for my kids. The gym has led us to better eating habits and a more active lifestyle."
Miller recently predicted the proposal, which is the subject of a hearing on Thursday, would not survive legislative scrutiny. O'Malley has also proposed applying the sales tax to tanning salons and property management services.
By Anne Bartlett |
October 30, 2007; 5:41 PM ET
| Category:
John Wagner
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Posted by: Out of shape boys | October 30, 2007 9:13 PM
This is all a bad idea. The expansion of sales tax to property management services is going to be passed through to the residential and commercial renters. While property owners get a meager property tax cut, renters are getting a new 6% tax increase, actually making the tax situation more regressive. (Of course, renters also pay the property tax too as part of their rent.) As for commercial renters, they will be passing the tax along to consumers, who will have to pay a higher sales tax on the new higher price for goods.
If the sales taxes are going to be expanded to cover services, it should be done during the regular general session, when all options can be considered. Everything should be on the table - from legal and medical services to dry cleaning and yard work. Redefining the tax code isn't the type of thing that should be rushed through in a special session.
Posted by: MoCo Voter | October 31, 2007 1:55 AM
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When is the last time O'Malley, Miller and Busch worked out? Ten years ago?