ST. LOUIS — Yoga practitioners are criticizing a Missouri sales tax that applies to yoga classes, claiming they should be exempt because the lessons include spiritual elements.
The sales tax on money paid to places of “amusement, entertainment or recreation, games and athletic events” isn’t new, said Missouri Department of Revenue spokesman Ted Farnen. He said letters were sent to the businesses so they would know that yoga centers offer the same types of fitness services that the Missouri Supreme Court has found taxable.
But many yoga instructors are bristling at the notion that the ancient practice could be construed as recreation or entertainment. The Spirit of Yoga St. Louis, a group that includes yoga instructors and business owners, is encouraging yoga students to write letters to state politicians, saying they want yoga centers exempt from the sales tax. Missouri said it will consider religious exemptions on a case-by-case basis. Farnen said the revenue letters were sent to yoga and Pilates businesses, not Hindu temples.
