So say you teach ballroom dancing. Turns out there is a tax in Washington state for "providing the opportunity to dance". Yep. That's right. If I provide you with the "opportunity" then you have to pay sales tax.
Turns out not many people knew about this. The Department of Revenue says "they should have" so they owe back taxes. Of course, that's what law enforcement agencies always say. How many regulations are there? Well, enough that they won't sell you a printed copy, only a CD, which costs $39. That's just the WAC (Washington Administrative Code). But you are supposed to know that in Washington Administrative Code Title 458, Chapter 458-20, Section 458-20-183 under "Amusement, recreation, and physical fitness services", Subsection (2) Definitions, sub-subsection (b) there you are, listed along with basketball courts, tennis courts, handball courts, and swimming pools, "providing the opportunity to dance". What kind of scofflaws are these people that didn't know they were supposed to collect sales tax?
Anyway, Century Ballroom, where basically all they do is promote dancing by "providing the opportunity to dance" apparently owes $250,000 in back taxes, but the folks with the hearts of gold over at the DoR are willing to reduce it to $92,000. How nice of them.
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