Michigan Taxes Massage Therapy

Michigan's massage therapists must now calculate sales tax for each session they provide. The new tax law, passed Oct. 1, is part of a budget package put into effect after a fiscal crisis led to a shutdown of the state's government, according to news reports. Along with massage therapists, other service providers required to charge 6 percent sales tax are landscapers, investment advisers, janitorial services, couriers, car services, consultants and private investigators, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"Some service businesses with lobbying clout in the Legislature escaped the new sales tax," the Press reported. "Among them were golf courses, real estate and cable and satellite television companies." Hair stylists are also exempt.

Massage therapist Celeste Hamilton, who has practiced in the city of Plymouth for 20 years, told MASSAGE Magazine she believes the tax burden should have been distributed more evenly among service providers. "I don’t like the fact that tickets for sporting events and golf were not taxed—are these services more essential than massage?" she said. "I know Michigan is in trouble financially, and I don’t mind doing my part to help, but what I don’t like is that some of these exempt services will not be sharing the burden. Where is the fairness here?"

Hamilton and colleague Eileen Bristol, who practices massage in Ann Arbor, do not believe the tax will dissuade clients from receiving massage.

"My clients come regularly as a way to relieve job stress, obtain pain relief, and prevent illness by increasing health and wellness," Hamilton says. "For them, it is a necessary part of their schedules, and I doubt they will stop coming because of the service tax."

Bristol noted that therapists will now need to "keep coins for making change … but we will adapt as needed and hope Michigan recovers."

The state's massage therapists may visit www.michigan.gov/treasury for more information.

—Karen Menehan, MASSAGE Magazine's editor in chief