NY PML Sec 109 (formerly Sec 109) is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
HI-
Thanks for the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing address.
Claude Solnik
(631) 913-4244
Long Island Business News
2150 Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
NY's highest court to decide if lap dance is tax-exempt art
Last Updated: 12:39 PM, September 5, 2012
Posted: 8:57 AM, September 5, 2012
Print ALBANY — They may never be confused with "Swan Lake," but an upstate New York strip club says its nude lap dances are every bit as much an art form and should be exempt from state taxes.
So far, the state tax department and an appeals court disagree and want the Nite Moves club in Albany to pay up $124,000 it says it owes taxes.
New York's highest court gets a shot at the arguments Wednesday when the two sides face off at the Court of Appeals.
Tax officials say sales taxes were paid on the club's nonalcoholic drinks, but are also owed on admission and so-called "couch sales," where patrons pay for private or lap dances.
Nite Moves claims the dances are exempt under state tax law as "live dramatic or musical arts performances." The exemption also applies to theater or ballet. The club is relying on testimony from a cultural anthropologist who has studied exotic dance and visited Nite Moves.
W. Andrew McCullough, an attorney for Nite Moves, said the impact of the eventual court ruling probably won't be widespread because most establishments featuring exotic dancers sell alcohol where other tax rules apply.
An administrative law judge previously agreed with Nite Moves, saying that "the fact that the dancers remove all or part of their costume ... simply does not render such dance routines as something less than choreographed performances."
But the state Tax Appeals Tribunal said the club didn't present sufficient proof that it qualifies for the exemption, and a mid-level court upheld the tribunal ruling last year.
"In our view, there can be no serious question that — at a bare minimum — petitioner failed to meet its burden of establishing that the private dances offered at its club were choreographed performances," the Appellate Division court ruled. The four justices also found "no merit" to the club's constitutional claims.
The appellate court also noted that the club dancers are not required to have any formal dance training and that the anthropologist didn't see any of the dances done in private rooms.
Cary Ziter, a spokesman for the state Department of Taxation and Finance, said the agency is not aware of any other cases in state court similar to the Nite Moves case. He said the tax department doesn't know how many so-called gentlemen's clubs operate in New York.
Angelina Spencer, executive director of the Association of Club Executives, told CNN recently there are about 4,000 adult nightclubs in the U.S.
The top court typically takes about a month to issue a decision.
So far, the state tax department and an appeals court disagree and want the Nite Moves club in Albany to pay up $124,000 it says it owes taxes.
New York's highest court gets a shot at the arguments Wednesday when the two sides face off at the Court of Appeals.
Tax officials say sales taxes were paid on the club's nonalcoholic drinks, but are also owed on admission and so-called "couch sales," where patrons pay for private or lap dances.
Nite Moves claims the dances are exempt under state tax law as "live dramatic or musical arts performances." The exemption also applies to theater or ballet. The club is relying on testimony from a cultural anthropologist who has studied exotic dance and visited Nite Moves.
W. Andrew McCullough, an attorney for Nite Moves, said the impact of the eventual court ruling probably won't be widespread because most establishments featuring exotic dancers sell alcohol where other tax rules apply.
An administrative law judge previously agreed with Nite Moves, saying that "the fact that the dancers remove all or part of their costume ... simply does not render such dance routines as something less than choreographed performances."
But the state Tax Appeals Tribunal said the club didn't present sufficient proof that it qualifies for the exemption, and a mid-level court upheld the tribunal ruling last year.
"In our view, there can be no serious question that — at a bare minimum — petitioner failed to meet its burden of establishing that the private dances offered at its club were choreographed performances," the Appellate Division court ruled. The four justices also found "no merit" to the club's constitutional claims.
The appellate court also noted that the club dancers are not required to have any formal dance training and that the anthropologist didn't see any of the dances done in private rooms.
Cary Ziter, a spokesman for the state Department of Taxation and Finance, said the agency is not aware of any other cases in state court similar to the Nite Moves case. He said the tax department doesn't know how many so-called gentlemen's clubs operate in New York.
Angelina Spencer, executive director of the Association of Club Executives, told CNN recently there are about 4,000 adult nightclubs in the U.S.
The top court typically takes about a month to issue a decision.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/exempt_highest_court_art_decide_E0aD4fpDgO1hX0hTNuF1mI#ixzz25iR1oDmu
No comments:
Post a Comment