Media News - Friday, July 03, 2009

Newspapers in Washington get key 40 percent tax break

As newspapers across the country struggle through a brutal economic climate, papers in Washington state are getting a tax break. A new law that gives newspaper printers and publishers a 40 percent cut in Washington's main business tax took effect this week, providing some much-needed relief to the business after a year in which The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its final edition and other papers suffered drastic cutbacks. 'It's not a bailout, because it's not enough money,' said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, the Democrat who sponsored the measure. 'But it is our way of saying to the newspapers that we do believe you're incredibly important to our state and our democracy.' The Society of Professional Journalists and the National Conference of State Legislatures was not aware of any other state that has granted a similar tax break to the newspaper industry. In Michigan, a bill that was introduced in May would exempt newspapers from paying that state's main business tax, but the bill has not yet had a hearing. And several states, including Mississippi, Idaho and Colorado, have existing sales-tax exemptions for newspapers. The Washington tax cut, which will cost the state about USD 1.3m a year, was approved despite uneasiness in the industry about newspapers relying on the government they cover for help. (Editor and Publisher)

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