Letter to fellow Interior Designers in Mississippi;

Over the past few days there are a couple of issues which have come to light which affect your ability to practice as an Interior Designer, as well as management of your practice. Over the past couple of months the Governors Tax Study Commission has issued a draft report of their findings. Note that before these items can take effect, they must be passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law by the Governor.

In 6.6.7 ADD ADDITIONAL SERVICES TO THE LIST OF TAXABLE SERVICES such as the following:

- Motor Vehicle Towing
- Mini-Warehouse
- Interior Design Services
- Graphic Design Services
- Pet Grooming
- Nail Services and Tanning Services
- And so on, this item is included for your reference

Under Mississippi Code Chapter 07 Design, Engineering and other Professional Services, these services are exempt from tax when not related to sales of tangible property Section 27-65-17, services Section 27-65-23 or activities taxable by Section 27-65-21. All of these items are included for your reference. Upon review of the various sections mentioned above, it would follow logic that professional services would be exempt. But at the state level we are not legislated or recognized as such.

Interior Designers generally practice one of two methods; the first of which only professional services are provided as the instrument of service delivery. A second method is a combination of professional services along with retail sales.

Where tangible personal property has changed hands, the appropriate taxes have been collected and remitted to the state. Under the proposed changes, you would now have to pay taxes on professional fees collected from your clients. It appears that this would also be the case for architectural firms on their portion of fees collected for interior design services. Unless such services are not promoted or billed as such services. In general this would provide an additional level of burden on the firm’s, owners and business managers with regards to record keeping and filing on these taxes.

While this material is only from a draft report of the Governors Tax Study Commission, it should reemphasize to us the importance of active involvement in the political process. These findings have a long road ahead before they can be signed into law, but they demand our attention now.

As design professionals, you’re aware of how important the protection of the public’s health, safety and welfare is. On a daily bases you are entrusted to make decisions based on your education, training and interpretation of codes which affect our state’s major assets-its citizens. From youngest to oldest, we are entrusted to safeguard their well being, by providing spaces which ensure that their lives are enhanced.

For those of you whose practice includes tenant build-out projects, your ability to perform such services has been greatly reduced. On May 23, 2008, the Mississippi State Board of Architecture issued an opinion to Mississippi Building Officials outlining those who can and cannot provide such services.

If a tenant space is within a building and less than 5,000 sq. ft. in scope, and the building itself is larger than 5,000 sq. ft., it must be designed by an architect licensed by the State of Mississippi. For those of you who have not heard about this, a copy of the board’s letter and brochure are attached for your review. So unless it’s 5,000 sq. ft. or less for both, and unless you work for an architectural firm, you’re out of business.

As a group, it’s time for us to take control of our profession and our destiny. Are we going to let the select few dictate what we can and cannot do? True, we have to work with them to reach our end goal, the protection of the public’s health safety and welfare, but when one or both sides of this equation is saying one thing and doing another something has to give.

Over the past few years we have reached out to the design community in our state, AIA and The Mississippi State Board of Architecture. We have informed them of our thoughts and shared with them our legislation. We have met with them, received their verbal comments but to date we have yet to receive any written comments. (These are the colleagues in the design profession which we work with on a daily bases to ensure that the health, safety and welfare of the public is protect.)

At this point, it appears that we were strung along to slow down these legislative efforts in hope that we would lose interest and go away. For those who don’t know, AIA national position holds that those who are qualified, through education and training to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, are architects and engineers.

As a unified group, we are going to have to inform and educate the public and elected officials with regards to this legislation. Or let a select few continue to dictate the direction of those who are the “chosen ones”.

This past legislative session, there was legislation introduced by a House member. This was done on their own initiative seeing the need for such legislation. Though we got credit for it, and not doing what we said we would do and hold off of legislative efforts in 2008.

Remember the old saying “timing is everything”? That is true now. We can say that with the approach of the 2009 legislative session, we will be there, have sponsors to introduce legislation in both chambers and will move this cause forward.

It will also be our position that if the state during these tough financial times needs the additional tax funds on a short term, we will gladly support the Governor’s Tax Study Commissions report but only if it’s equal taxation among all design professionals.

Take a moment, take a stand for what you feel is right and join us in this effort to protect health, safety and welfare of those close to us and those who will follow us in the future.