You've made your tanning bed, now lie in it
Mo' tanning, mo' taxes: Got the dollars to get dark?
Time to call timeout on tanning bed babes.
To help fund the $940 billion heath care overhaul, the Obama administration has latched onto the bill a 10-percent tax on individuals receiving indoor tanning services — a move expected to generate $2.7 billion over 10 years. The hike also applies to electronic products designed for tanning that use one or more ultraviolet lamps with wavelengths between 200 and 400 nanometers.
The tax is an edit from the original bill proposal, which declared a five-percent tax on cosmetic surgery — dubbed the "Botax" — and would have included Botox injections, breast implants and other elective surgeries. Because of the heavy lobbying power of the medical and dermatological industries, the Botax was nixed in favor of the tanning tax. Other sunless tanning options such as spray tans and tanning lotions will not be included in the tax.
As to be expected, dedicated tanners and business owners feel a bit left in the dark. The Indoor Tanning Association has launched stopthetantax.com, where tanning salon owners and customers may send personalized letters of opposition directly to state representatives and senators. It remains to be seen how effective the grassroots movement will be.
Some justify indoor tanning as a method of maintaining healthy levels of Vitamin D, but according to the American Academy of Dermatology, indoor tanning before the age of 35 is linked to a 75 percent increase in the risk of melanoma, the most malignant form of skin cancer. Nearly 30 million Americans access tanning beds each year, including about 2.3 million teenagers.
Moreover, the United States currently spends about $1.8 billion on treating skin cancers — $300 million of that comes on melanoma alone.
The government turns up the heat on tanning beginning July 1, allowing just shy of three more months of tax-free baking.
