RI ACLU Lawsuit Over State’s Taxation of Non-Fiction Authors Resolved
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
The Rhode Island ACLU announced that its lawsuit against the RI Division of Taxation for discrimination against non-fiction authors has been resolved.
The ACLU dismissed the case on Tuesday after confirming that authors Steve Porter and Paul Caranci, who applied for exemptions since the suit was filed, have had them granted by the Division.
“I am very grateful to the Division of Taxation and the RI State Council on the Arts for the work they have now done in support of ARIA’s request to include non-fiction books on the list of works qualifying for tax-exempt status for local artists. I believe that their inclusion of non-fiction books both reflects the true artistry of such works and keeps with the original legislative intent of promoting local artists,” said Caranci.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs GoLocalProv reported, the ACLU filed the lawsuit back in May.
“It is more than appropriate to see this lawsuit resolved during Banned Books Week. The state’s previous discriminatory implementation of the sales tax law was untenable, and we trust that going forward, the state will now continue to treat all Rhode Island authors the same when it comes to granting an exemption under the law,” said ACLU of RI executive director Steven Brown.
The Lawsuit
As GoLocalProv reported, the lawsuit, filed by ACLU of RI cooperating attorney Lynette Labinger, argued that making such a distinction on the content of the work violates the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The law at issue, enacted by the General Assembly in 2013, is designed to promote the work of local writers and artists. It exempts from the sales tax “original and creative works” sold by writers, composers, and artists residing in Rhode Island. At some point, however, the Taxation Division, in consultation with the RI State Council on the Arts (RISCA), determined that non-fiction books are not “original and creative works,” and therefore not eligible for the tax exemption.
The ACLU lawsuit was looking for a court order barring the state from excluding non-fiction works from the sales tax exemption.
After the suit was filed, the authors filed requests for a sales tax exemption for their non-fiction works, and they were granted, prompting Tuesday’s dismissal of the case.
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