In case you haven’t heard, a new trend appears to have surfaced regarding yoga studios and state government regulation. As we reported back in April, the state of Michigan recently demanded that yoga studios with teacher training programs must file a $1,300 license or face significant consequences. Michigan’s reasoning for this move was that yoga teaching is technically a “trade”, and all trade and vocational schools must be licensed with the state in order to operate.
And back in November, the state of Washington came extremely close to instating a law that would require yoga studios to charge their customers sales tax. Due to yoga instructor protests, however, this move was overturned. At issue here was whether yoga was considered to be a “physical fitness service”. Under Washington state law, exercise classes and services were subject to sales tax collection. Yoga studio owners argued that yoga did not meet the typical definition of exercise, and should therefore be exempt from this law. Interestingly, yoga classes at gyms in Washington are still subject to taxation.
Most recently, there has been quite a hullabaloo taking place in the state of New York regarding the government’s swooping in on the yoga studio scene there. In early May, eighty-one yoga studios with teacher training programs received notices ordering them to either apply for spendy operating licenses or to pay a $50,000 (that’s right – $50,000!) fine. And in the meantime, they were told to cease and desist their programs altogether. What a shock to these unsuspecting studio owners!
This issue is being hotly debated in the New York yoga world as we speak. Our impression of the situation is that most yoga studio owners are attempting to fight this forceful action by the state, but in a controversial move, the well-known Yoga Alliance (a national organization which certifies yoga teachers and yoga teacher training programs) has stated that “[Yoga] is a six-billion dollar industry now. It’s no longer fringe; it’s mainstream. The yoga community has to act like other businesses out there.” Whoa, nellie! Such a sentiment does not seem likely to win the Yoga Alliance many yoga friends in New York right now.
There is a thorough re-cap of all of the developments regarding this situation on the great blog YogaDork. Check it out to bring yourself up-to-speed on this hot-button issue within the yoga scene!
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