Pet Service Tax: What's Next?

Talk to any small business owner in Rhode Island and they will shake their head in frustration over the uphill battle they seem to be fighting against the state just to stay afloat.

As of October 1st, 2012 this battle will be directly aimed at pet service related business, their clients and the animals they care for. If you have a pet, this affects you, if you support small businesses, this affects you, if you oppose regressive and unnecessary taxes, then this affects you!

Rhode Island has issued a rulemaking that would add any “pet care service” to the list of taxable “services.” This is including, but of course not limited to: boarding, grooming, daycare, pet sitting, walking and training.

Rhode Island is supposed to be a non-taxable service state, and the last time I check all of these services are standalone professional services, not retail.

In the rulemaking it was noted that there was “consideration given to whether the regulation would have significant economic impact on small business”.

Really, Rhode Island?

You expect me to believe you seriously thought about the “little guy” in all of this and still decided that we’d be just fine? Personally, I own a very new, small business dog daycare, The Wiggle Room in Middletown, so this affects me, and my clients, in the most direct way possible.

When people warned me about Rhode Island being very unfriendly to small business they weren’t kidding. We can’t even afford to create jobs because a $15,000 salary will end up costing us nearly twice that!

And now to top it all off, they want us  to pay an extra 7% tax to the state, which will force most, if not all to raise their prices to cover the tax.

Higher prices will cause clients to seek services out of state that are less expensive, people will use our services less often and businesses will even have to lay employees off. Not to mention the animals who are at risk to suffer from less training, grooming and exercise.

This alone has a great potential to put many new and/or small businesses that are on the threshold for “making or breaking it” out of business. The Wiggle Room, among others, could be one of those little guys that fall through the cracks at the hands of our unfair lawmakers.

If you oppose this new pet service tax please send all comments and concerns by August 23rd to Michael Canole, Rhode Island Division of Taxation, One Capitol Hill, Providence, RI 02908, (401) 574-8729 or via email at michale.canole@tax.ri.gov.

There is a petition available to sign at The Wiggle Room, 741 West Main Rd Middletown, RI, or you can sign online at http://www.change.org/petitions/rhode-island-division-of-taxation-repeal-the-decision-to-implement-a-7-sales-tax-on-pet-care-services.

Also, you can contact your local state representative and Governor Lincoln Chafee. There will be a public meeting held on August 23rd at 9:30am at One Capitol Hill, Providence, RI.  Remember, it’s an election year!