State Capitol

State Capitol

The Iowa House has voted to give laundromat operators a tax break. If the bill becomes law, the state sales tax would not be charged on the per-load fees laundromats charge customers for using washers and dryers.

Representatove Josh Byrnes, a Republican from Osage, has met with a couple from St. Ansgar who sold their laundromats in Iowa and opened coin-operated laundromats in Minnesota, which does not charge the sales tax.

“The other part of this is just economic development in general,” Byrnes says. “We have a company that manufactures self-pay units in Fairfield, Iowa, called Dexter and actually they’re looking at some expansion and growth of their company I believe that this will help them get over that hump and help to further their business as well.”

Dexter Laundry began making wringer washers in Dexter, Iowa, in 1894 and relocated to Fairfield in 1908. The company focuses exclusively on washers and dryers in commercial facilities.

According to the Coin Laundry Association, Iowa is one of just four states that impose a sales tax on all the quarters laundromat operators collect from their self-service washers and dryers. The bill to erase that sales tax cleared the House Tuesday afternoon on a 76-14 vote. It now goes to the Senate for consideration as legislators try to wrap up the 2015 session this week.