Photo by Elvert Barnes

A foundation that supports the spread of yoga is arguing to the D.C. government that the activity isn’t exercise, but a “comprehensive system for mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being,” and therefore shouldn’t be taxed.

In a letter to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant General Counsel, Richard Karpel, president of the Yoga Alliance, says that argues that the so-called “yoga tax” shouldn’t apply to yoga studios as it’s really a fitness tax. Karpel notes that New York state doesn’t tax yoga studios under a provision regulating “weight control salons, health salons, gymnasiums, Turkish and sauna bath and similar establishments and every charge for the use of such facilities.” Yoga studios aren’t named in D.C.’s budget, which mandated the 5.75 percent sales tax, but these are: “Water consumption for home, storage of household goods/mini storage, carpet and upholstery cleaning, health clubs and tanning studios, car washes, and bowling alleys and billiard parlors.”

“Despite the media’s characterization of the new sales tax on health clubs as the
‘yoga tax,’ there is no support for the assertion that the D.C. government intends for the
new tax to apply to Yoga businesses,” Karpel writes. “That view was not endorsed in the legislative record or the D.C. Tax Revision Commission’s recommendations to adopt the new sales tax.” According to the letter, of the Yoga Alliance’s 50,000 registered teachers at least 363 reside in D.C. Of the 3,100 registered schools, 14 are located in D.C.

A CFO spokesperson told City Desk the decision to tax yoga studios is “up to the lawyers and they will not comment.”