Indoor Tanning Tax

Do you want a better body or a nice tan?

Section 9017 of H.R.3590, the Patient Protection and Affordability Act, imposes an excise tax of 5% on any service considered to be elective cosmetic surgery. The tax was scheduled to begin [retroactively] on all procedures performed after January 1, 2010.

Oddly, in the same Act, Section 10907 completely voids Section 9017 altogether and instead imposes a 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services. This tax began on all services performed after June 30, 2010.

An excise tax is an indirect tax that is collected by a seller through increasing the prices of goods or services. In the case of Section 10907, tanning salons across the U.S.A. raised their prices on July 1, 2010 and will be making quarterly payments directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Tanning Salons are upset about this new tax because it sends a confusing message. Apparently, Dermatologists and Cosmetic Surgeons lobbied against Section 9017 and won. Instead, Congress chose to tax a more “middle class” nicety; which is against everything they campaign - the middle class would “not pay one penny in extra taxes”.