High Point Chamber backs designers in tax case
State wants to collect sales tax on design services
Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, March 10, 2008
HIGH POINT — This city’s Chamber of Commerce has lent its support to designers fighting a proposed North Carolina state sales tax on their services.
The N.C. Department of Revenue wants designers to collect a 6.75% sales tax on consulting fees from clients who also purchase products from them. The state also wants to collect thousands of dollars in back taxes, penalties and interest from designers who had not collected the tax on consulting fees in past years.
The High Point Chamber Board of Directors said it voted unanimously to oppose the tax. Chamber officials said the issue is unfair to designers, who they view as an “integral part of the effort to market home furnishings in High Point.”
“The success of the furniture industry is vital to the economy of High Point and the state of North Carolina,” said High Point Chamber Board Chairman Jerry Camp in a statement. “As champions of free enterprise, the chamber joins our professional designers in opposition to this unfair collection.”
Board member Brian Casey, who also is president of the High Point Market Authority, agreed that designers should not be required to pay the tax and urged other board members to support the opposition.
“We understand the positive impact interior designers have on the industry in general and, specifically, in High Point,” he said in a statement. “More and more furniture purchases are being influenced by designers, based on a high level of personal in-home service to their clients. They should not be penalized by this tax.”
Furniture/Today Publisher Joe Carroll, who also is a member of the High Point Chamber, also voted in favor of opposing the tax.
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Chamber supporting designers in tax fight
Apr 6, 2008
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