Over the weekend, U.S. Senate Democrats removed a proposed 5% tax on all elective cosmetic surgery, replacing it with a last-minute provision that would tax the use of tanning beds. Senate Democrats cite the reasoning for the “Tan Tax” is the increased risk of skin cancer associated with the use of indoor tanning beds.

Under the new proposal, individuals purchasing tanning services would be requires to pay the 10% Tan Tax. Over a 10-year span, this new tax is projected to produce $2.7 billion to help fund health care reform. The previously proposed elective cosmetic surgery tax, affectionately called the “Bo-Tax” was projected to contribute over twice that amount in the same 10-year span.

Allergan, the California-based maker of Botox and other firms that were to be affected by the “Bo-Tax” lobbied together to remove the proposed tax. Representative cosmetic surgeons also lobbied against the tax arguing that the tax was discriminatory, specifically against middle-class women.

In a statement released by John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association said, “It is not surprising that one primarily cosmetic business is trying to throw another under the bus by transferring a tax from rich doctors and their wealthy customers to struggling small businesses,” Overstreet said. “The irony is that ultraviolet light at least has proven health benefits where botox treatments have none.”

On their website, the Indoor Tanning Association states that a well-known side effect of exposing the skin to ultraviolent (UV) light is the production of Vitamin D.

Source: Examiner