Sales tax exemption for indoor tanning services dropped for Wyuka Cemetery exemption

A sales tax exemption for tanning services was removed from a bill advanced from general file April 26 in favor of providing a sales tax exemption for Wyuka Cemetery.

LB252, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Abbie Cornett, would have created a sales tax exemption for indoor tanning services admission receipts, effective July 1, 2011.

Cornett said a 10 percent federal excise tax affecting indoor tanning enacted as part of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act has led to an “unprecedented tax burden” on indoor tanning businesses. Furthermore, the new excise tax is applied unfairly because select businesses that offer tanning services as part of membership fees are exempt, she said.

A number of Revenue Committee members said they advanced the bill from committee to discuss the federal excise tax but could not support a tax exemption for every business affected by federal tax policy.

An amendment offered by Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash replaced the provisions of the bill with a proposal to exempt from sales and use tax purchases made by Wyuka Cemetery.

The amendment also would designate the state Auditor of Public Accounts as the state official who receives itemized reports of receipts and expenditures incurred by the Wyuka Cemetery board of trustees for the management of the cemetery. Currently, the secretary of state receives such reports.

The amendment also would push back the deadline for such reports from the second Tuesday in March to the second Tuesday in June.

Coash said his amendment would clarify the cemetery’s tax exempt status, which is in question due to an informal attorney general opinion. The nonprofit, charitable organization has never paid sales taxes on its purchases, he said, adding that the tax exemption would not apply to services and products the organization provides to others, such as casket and urn sales.

“We are not, through this amendment, giving Wyuka any kind of economical advantage, because they have already been operating as tax exempt,” Coash said.

Coash offered a motion to suspend the germaneness rule in order for the body to consider his amendment. Lawmakers voted 30-2 to suspend the rule and adopted Coash’s amendment 28-0. LB252 advanced from general file 31-0.