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Beginning October 1, you, resident of the District of Columbia, will have to start paying sales tax on a number of things you didn’t have to pay tax on before. Among them is the controversial “yoga tax,” which adds sales tax to health club services, like yoga lessons. Sorry, fitness gurus, you’re just going to have to deal with it.
Per the agreement Mayor Vince Gray and the D.C. Council made on the FY15 budget, here’s all the new things that will be taxed 5.75 percent beginning October 1:
Bottled Water Delivery Service: This applies to gallon bottles, for a water cooler or dispenser.
Bowling Alley or Billiard Parlor Services: You gotta pay (sales tax) to play, if you’re looking to go bowling or shoot some pool at a billiards parlor.
Car Washing Services: Sorry, now you have to pay sales tax for a car wash. Washing it yourself is free, though. Just an FYI.
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services: This includes all carpet cleaning and steaming, plus the cleaning or dyeing of rugs, carpets, other upholstery, and even rug repair.
Health-Club Services: Otherwise known as the yoga tax. This includes if you go to or belong to a fitness club, center, gym, or any place where the purpose is physical exercise. “Including the use of, access to, or membership to, an athletic club, fitness center, gym, recreational sports facilities featuring exercise and other active physical fitness conditioning or recreational sports activities including swimming, skating, or racquet sports, or other facility for the purpose of physical exercise.” Basically if you’re paying to sweat there, you probably have to pay sales tax.
Storage of Household Goods: If you’re storing anything in any sort of self-storage unit, room, or space—even a coin-operated locker—you now have to pay sales tax. Sorry.
Tanning Services: Pretty self-explanatory. The sun is free, though.