Video: Yoga classes hit with new tax

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SEATTLE - Some yoga studios have been notified they must charge sales tax.

The policy is stirring some controversy.

The state says yoga is physical fitness and is subject to sales tax under the law.

Starting this weekend at 8 Limbs Yoga Centers in Seattle, participants are being charged a 9 percent sales tax.

The owner of 8 Limbs says she could be forced to pay back taxes totaling tens of thousands of dollars. She says yoga's main focus is on education and the mind.

"The sole purpose is to be mentally stable, mentally fit, to be able to concentrate for long periods of time," owner Anne Phyfe Palmer said.

Some state yoga businesses have been collecting the tax and some have not.

One studio has already been required to pay back taxes, while another got a tax refund.

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Some yoga studios, including 8 Limbs Yoga Centers in Seattle, have been notified they must charge sales tax.

The law, like the practice of yoga, is fluid. At a time when many gyms offer yoga-like classes with an emphasis on fitness, the instructional studios stress meditation and fitness of the mind.

It's a taxing debate.

A spokesman for the state Department of Revenue says they are trying to find a solution.

They plan to meet with representatives from the yoga industry on November 19 to discuss the tax policy.