Ok all you tan bed-aholics, July marks the beginning of a 10% tax on your tanning bed services, from your beloved federal government. This means that every salon that offers tanning services will be charged a 10% additional tax over what they already pay for proceeds received from this often controversial, health questionable service. Who is ultimately the winner here? Why, the federal government and their ballooning deficit of course!
Honestly, I don’t care that they are taxing indoor tanning myself, I think that the price may be more on the people who own these salons, and may put even more pressure on a lot of female small business owners, since most of these types of services are owned by female small business owners. That, and the fact that the consumer will end up paying the tab in the end most likely.
Of course, one could argue that tanning is a nonessential luxury, but so are many of the things that make up the free market and ultimately make the American economy as strong as it is – or was, before this disaster situation happened.
The federal government, in an effort to help pay for the numerous stimulus programs and the massive bailout package that happened to prevent global economic catastrophe, has been looking for ways to save money. One of the proposals also included a tax on plastic surgery and Botox. I believe that both of those proposals were not picked up, but the tanning tax was.
I guess this means more and more people may be reaching for the self tanners, which could be a good thing, but it’s also still important to at least get some natural sunlight on your skin and get that vitamin D in.
Hopefully the government won’t ax any other “non essential” beauty needs, but I do think the tanning tax is fairly minimal and if it an help keep our deficit down while also not damaging businesses too badly (hopefully they can pass this on fairly easily to the consumer and that will be that), I’m ok with it.
Remember to protect your skin from the sun, but also try not to totally avoid the sun all together. More and more evidence is showing that responsible sun exposure is a good way to get vitamin D, which helps keep your immune system healthy and also may provide a host of cancer prevention benefits as well.
