Jim Brunberg, owner of Mississippi Studios, has a tale to tell that could rival Mike Korpi’s web of woe from May. (Korpi, you may recall, was the Forest Grove mechanic who got slammed with a $55,000 fine from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after he was caught, at Portland International Airport, with eight fake Rolex watches, souvenirs from China. The feds later dropped the fine.)
Last month, a tax auditor with the Oregon Employment Department told Brunberg that all the performers who have ever taken the stage at Mississippi Studios are considered employees of the North Portland venue. Unless those performers have contracts that explicitly state they are responsible for paying all applicable taxes, the state says Brunberg must pay them himself. The upshot? The state, Brunberg says, is asking for $6,000 in unpaid employment taxes on the musicians.
“This abuse of Oregon law is potentially devastating to Oregon’s music business, and is completely misguided, ” says a letter circulating among local venue owners. “The notion of a concert venue being responsible for paying employment taxes on artists that present concerts there is preposterous.”
Tom Fuller, a spokesman for the employment department, says he cannot comment on the specifics of any random audit performed by the state. Nor can he confirm that one has happened. However, he reiterated the position that musicians’ contracts with venues must state explicitly that the artists are responsible for paying any applicable taxes. Also, employers have a right to appeal the department’s finding, he says.
Brunberg was not issuing his own contracts with the artists who performed at Mississippi Studios, he says. Until the audit, he was signing the contracts that artists sent to him.
The law, ORS 657.506, which is the basis for the finding, according to Brunberg, is available here
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OUTRAGOUS! Mississippi studios is a gem and serves the arts community and thereby the city as a whole. How does it serve the state to tax the club for performers that are obviously contracted, at the same time causing serious financial repercussions for a worthy business, which has helped bring so much commerce into the newly thriving Mississippi area? Please someone tell me how I can help, and to whom I can protest.
Martha, and for all who are interested, you can see the full story laid out on Dave Allen’s blog @ Pampelmoose. Includes background and the folks to get in touch with:
http://www.pampelmoose.com/mspeaks/?p=1042
Same people that disqualified the initiatives are doing this to you. This is a State run by and for public employees, their benfits and pensions. Nothing will stop them from taking every penny they can get from any source. There is a legal avenue, of course, and you can sue them to have a judge decide who is right. But it is about tax collections, which pay the woefully low judicial wages. Good luck.
That is the biggest crock of crap I’ve ever heard. Everyone knows, or should know, that Musicians like all other self employed contractors file a 1099 or fill out a W9 form. It sounds like the state is trying to squeeze more money from whoever they can seemingly take advantage of. I hope Mr. Mississippi Venue has a really good lawyer. Otherwise he’s screwed. Oregon has a way of intimidation tactics.
They pulled something very similar in Seattle about two years ago, but concentrated on theater troupes rather than nightclubs. Many fine theaters had to close their doors because of this, the state demanding that the actors be paid an hourly minimum wage and provided with health benefits when they were all happy to be working for whatever stipend they were being offered.
My point is, this is a real threat. I don’t know one nightclub that would fare well if they were hit with a fine covering every band that had ever performed there. What would a place like Berbati’s do, that’s been running shows every night for 15 years?
We had better do something about this.
Ah, this will get thrown out, it’s obviously garbage. Jim’s been through much worse, he’ll rise above. If it does happen, 6 grand is not that much. We could raise that in a week. I’ll repay every dollar I’ve made playing there if I have to.
If everybody whose ever played there puts five dollars in a Paypal account, Jim could pay this fine in a day. There’d even be extra to throw a biog party.
Leviethan….
Raising the $$ and paying off the state might be easy, but it would be disastorous. If the state wins here, they will likely go after every other club that does not have contracts. Are we going to pitch in to save all of them!?!?!?
Hi all,
I will be performing at Mississippi Studios on Friday, October 19th at 9:00. I will be donating whatever I make on the door and cd sales to help pay for Miss. Studios legal costs. I hope you can come.
Pilar French
http://www.myspace.com/pilarfrench