Oakbrook Terrace, IL – June 5, 2015 – A bill sponsored by the Iowa Self-Service Laundry Association to repeal the existing sales tax on coin-operated laundry passed unanimously on June 3, 2015 in the Iowa Senate and is now on its way to Gov. Terry Branstad’s desk for his signature.
“We made some history in the process it seems,” said Daryl Johnson, president of the Iowa Self-Service Laundry Association. “I was told that there has not been a tax bill passed in the Iowa Senate 50-0 in at least three decades or more, and we also won the vote in the House with a 76-14 margin. Those are just about unprecedented wins. We also got the bill done in one legislative session after hiring a lobbyist – that never happens!
Iowa laundry owners have been paying nearly 9 percent of their gross sales each year to satisfy this tax. And this victory marks one of the largest legislative wins for the self-service laundry industry in years.
The ISSLA spent about $35,000 during its five-year battle to repeal the tax. Similar battles to keep self-service laundries exempt from sales tax are occurring more frequently each year. Essentially, due to the nature of the coin laundry business, these taxes become a direct income tax on laundry owners’ gross sales.
This impressive legislative victory leaves only 3 out of the 4 states among those who access sales tax on self-service laundry.
“We still have some financial needs to replenish our coffers, but all in all we are very excited and exhausted,” Johnson said. “I expect the governor to sign the bill before the end of June, so the effective date will be July 1.”
Industry peers are being directed to http://www.coinlaundry.org/advocacy/stop-laundry-tax in order to obtain more information on how they can make a difference.
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