http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-new-tax-on-dancing/Content?oid=9540253 Comments On: A New Tax on Dancing by Cienna Madrid en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Tue, 21 May 2013 03:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss every state, city, county, event
DANCE - that's right Dance
then follow up that they are paying their Dance Tax
Posted by Darrell D]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:18:26 -0700 The Stranger Posted by scty7]]> Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:35:34 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Sctty7]]> Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:28:50 -0800 The Stranger
https://www.change.org/petitions/help-sa…
Posted by J.R. Teeter]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:29:56 -0800 The Stranger Posted by red-000]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:51:00 -0800 The Stranger
I remember a decade or so ago when there was an education program for the poor, yep, they paid to put us who could not afford it through school so we could get better jobs and bring in more money .... that was cut a while ago. Now they're cutting Medicaid, a LOT. Do you know how much you are paying for dental of those unable to get health insurance now? They are waiting for it to be an emergency, which can cost up to ten times what it would cost if a dentist just did regular cleanings and extractions. They are cutting emergency care to a minimum to, which will actually cost tax payers more because unpaid medical bills are still paid by the state, only with the added fees for collection agencies.

This is one tax I approve on, well, anything that targets bars and clubs. It's an excess luxury that really causes a lot of problems in Seattle anyway. Downtown is plagued by the unruly drunks who party in the bars then drive home, drunk.
Posted by KittenKoder]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:07:14 -0700 The Stranger Posted by slade]]> Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:36:25 -0700 The Stranger
So If I'm playing music at a back-yard barb-e-que, do I get taxed for "providing the opportunity" to my guests?

So if I take my guitar to the park, and someone happens to dance to the tune I'm playing; does that make me a criminal?

Does Pikes Place Market pay "dance tax" for "providing the opportunity" to dance??
Just askin'
Posted by David Wayne]]> Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:57:04 -0700 The Stranger
Current & attempted WA/city taxes: regressive property taxes, B&O tax, admissions tax, employee tax, square footage tax, stadium tax, parking garage tax, increased sales tax, increased parking meters everywhere (tax), 30% increase in liquor tax, Good2Go highway tax, highest gasoline tax in the country (despite a high % of Alaskan oil being pumped through our port!)

Attempted taxes: state income tax, plastic bag tax, coffee tax, soda tax.

Next up: breathing too much air tax, giving birth tax, spousal tax, walking tax, snow removal tax, collected rainwater tax, lawn watering tax, pea patch tax, sitting under a tree tax & charitable giving tax.

When will Washington residents realize electing legislators who prefer to cut unnecessary spending is a better alternative to electing those hell bent on maintaining the status quo by tacking on one more ridiculous tax after another like this?!

FYI: Gregoire took office with a $1.9 billion budget surplus in 2007 and has since spent our state into a $4.6 billion budget deficit in just the past four years!
Posted by jakewa]]> Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:56:56 -0700 The Stranger
Current or attempted: Plastic bag tax, gasoline tax, coffee tax, soda tax, B&O tax, admissions tax, employee tax, square footage tax, stadium tax, parking garage tax, increased parking meters everywhere (tax), Good2Go highway tax etc.

Next up: breathing too much air tax, giving birth tax, spousal tax, walking tax, snow removal tax, collected rainwater tax, lawn watering tax, pea patch tax, sitting under a tree tax.

When will Washington residents elect those legislators who prefer cutting spending to adding yet another ridiculous tax!
Posted by jakewa]]> Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:36:05 -0700 The Stranger Posted by infodriveway]]> Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:30:33 -0700 The Stranger Posted by inquiastador]]> Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:20:41 -0700 The Stranger Posted by inquiastador]]> Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:17:08 -0700 The Stranger Posted by dj100proof]]> Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:52:43 -0700 The Stranger Posted by people are everywhere]]> Sat, 20 Aug 2011 20:17:49 -0700 The Stranger
I agree 100%. This publication and its readers have no problem endorsing and voting for the same people who draft, ratify and impose these tax laws, but then they go bat-shit crazy when it's actually applied to something they enjoy. As much as I hate its impact on small business owners and nightlife, I'm glad it's happening. Perhaps then people will wake up to the hegemony of this liberal tax-and-spend-and-waste fiefdom we live in....
Posted by DAZ]]> Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:06:07 -0700 The Stranger
This sounds so fucked.
Posted by Puty]]> Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:16:33 -0700 The Stranger I would dance on your car, would YOU have to pay taxes for that? Keep crapping on what the people want and see how that works for you.
Posted by people are everywhere]]> Sat, 20 Aug 2011 03:32:29 -0700 The Stranger Posted by SaraJean]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:52:20 -0700 The Stranger well done, im connected to a club involved
send me an email at danrc44@gmail.com
Posted by cowprod]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:01:04 -0700 The Stranger
As per the "If you cant figure out Seattle Tax's you should not open a business"

well? you just have not been paying attention as to how fast Tax laws come and go and how many are not relevant but still are in a pile of crap your city county state and nation have avoided since 1776?

the shoe tax?

If Ignorance of "existing laws" is no defense you need to check how many laws there are and try to figure what will be applicable to your club for that year? Its part of the great "making Seattle Great foundation" that your great state and city try's as hard as they can to complicate every aspect of you life to the point you need a lawyer to represent your lawyer.


Posted by slade]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:38:20 -0700 The Stranger
Except of course when that new tax affects something that they enjoy.

Ignorance of the (existing) law is no defense. I say give the clubs a year without penalties and interest to pay their back taxes. If they can't pay by then, close 'em down.
Posted by David in Shoreline]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:18:50 -0700 The Stranger
I did some case law research into the statute and the web history of the guide for taverns/bars. Here's what I found: the page on the DOR's website changed to include the information on cover charges (the Department's interpretation of a very vaguely-worded statute) sometime between September 24th and October 21st of 2009. The pre-October 2009 page for taverns did not contain anything about collecting Sales tax on cover charges.

Further - the new wording doesn't properly quote either the regulation [
WAC 458-20-183] nor the statute [ RCW 82.04.050 ] about "contests" or "karaoke". Unlike the "opportunity to dance" (from the WAC), both terms are missing from both and are merely the department's view of the law.

I have a suspicion that this example of "karaoke contest" is not an accident. 10 years earlier in 1999, the DOR won a case against a karaoke bar owner for mis-classification of revenues at the Board of Tax Appeals [ 1999 WL 1458594 ]. The case dealt with an unrelated exemption for the lease of personal property (the guy lost) but relied on the same statute and regulation.

Bottom line:
1. Bar and tavern owners couldn't have seen DOR's view on this law until after the financial crisis hit (October 2009)

2. There is yet to be a case challenging the DOR's view that a cover charge at a bar or a club is indeed an "Amusement and recreation services" or is "made for providing the opportunity to dance"

If an attorney representing any anonymous bar owners need help with this, you know where to find me!
Posted by Peter Pajitnov]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 04:45:32 -0700 The Stranger
I did some case law research into the statute and the web history of the guide for taverns/bars. Here's what I found: the page on the DOR's website changed to include the information on cover charges (the Department's interpretation of a very vaguely-worded statute) sometime between September 24th and October 21st of 2009. The pre-October 2009 page for taverns did not contain anything about collecting Sales tax on cover charges.

Further - the new wording doesn't properly quote either the regulation [
WAC 458-20-183] nor the statute [ RCW 82.04.050 ] about "contests" or "karaoke". Unlike the "opportunity to dance" (from the WAC), both terms are missing from both and are merely the department's view of the law.

I have a suspicion that this example of "karaoke contest" is not an accident. 10 years earlier in 1999, the DOR won a case against a karaoke bar owner for mis-classification of revenues at the Board of Tax Appeals [ 1999 WL 1458594 ]. The case dealt with an unrelated exemption for the lease of personal property (the guy lost) but relied on the same statute and regulation.

Bottom line:
1. Bar and tavern owners couldn't have seen DOR's view on this law until after the financial crisis hit (October 2009)

2. There is yet to be a case challenging the DOR's view that a cover charge at a bar or a club is indeed an "Amusement and recreation services" or is "made for providing the opportunity to dance"

If an attorney representing any anonymous bar owners need help with this, you know where to find me!
Posted by Peter Pajitnov]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 04:43:17 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Tax Payer]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:47:16 -0700 The Stranger