Dance studio owners received notices from the Missouri Department of Revenue informing them that they owed years of back taxes to the state. Missouri charges sales tax on places of recreation and entertainment, which the department stated now included dance studios.

Dance studio owners were shocked; their studios had previously been exempt from charging sales tax because the studios were places of education. Missouri State Senator Ryan Silvey (R-17), believing the arbitrary change in the tax code unfair, proposed a bill which would specifically define education establishments, including dance studios. Yet last month, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon vetoed the bill and deemed dance studios a place of recreation and entertainment. Critics say the governor is using the reinterpretation of the tax code as a means of increasing state revenue. Supporters in the State Legislature hope to find opportunities to override the governor’s veto in September.