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Health care plan proposes ‘tan tax’

By Kirsten Kwon

Friday, January 15, 2010

After a hard day of classes, Samantha Overfield visits the tanning bed to unwind.

“Usually I do it to relax my body and get some form of sunlight when I can’t lay-out outside,” said Overfield, a sophomore from Lawrence.

photo

Photo by Chance Dibben

Chris Cox, owner and operator of Shark's Surf Shop located 813 Massachusetts St., stands inside his store Wednesday afternoon. The surfer-themed store offers indoor tanning, which could be subject to a higher tax if a 10 percent increase provision introduced by Senate democrats to health care legislation passes.

But her stress-relieving ritual may become less cost effective if Congress passes its latest sin tax.

Written into the Senate’s health care package, the “tan tax” will cause tanning salon customers to pay an additional 10 percent per visit. It was introduced to the health care plan as an alternative to the “bo-tax,” a 5 percent tax on cosmetic surgeries. When the cosmetic surgery industry fought against the tax, the Senate looked for other ways to produce revenue for health care legislation through personal cosmetic treatments ­by turning its attention to tanning.

“I don’t think that there should be a specific tax on tanning,” said Pam Scott, owner of Lawrence’s Endless Summer Tan, 2223 Louisiana Street. “I’m not opposed to a self-tax, like a tax on getting your nails done and your hair done, but it should be fair and across the board ­— not just tanning.”

As recent studies ha

Kansas “sin taxes”

Sin tax, or extra tax on products or services that could be considered harmful, are often imposed to discourage an activity and generate revenue. Here’s the going rate for sin tax in Kansas:

Cigarette tax: $0.79 per pack

Spirits tax: $2.50 per

gallon

Table wine tax: $0.30 per gallon

Beer tax: $0.18 per gallon

According to The Tax Foundation, As of July 1, 2009

ve directly linked indoor tanning to melanoma, the last minute addition to the health care package can be viewed as an attempt to keep people from harmful exposure.

Patty Quinlan, supervisor of nursing at Watkins Health Center, said the decision to ditch the “bo-tax” for the “tan tax” could be a way to halt the chain of dangerous behaviors.

“The younger someone is, the more likely they are to tan,” Quinlan said. “The wrinkles and leathery-type skin that tanning creates can become a catalyst to start wanting cosmetic surgery.”

Quinlan also noted the difference in safety precautions between the two, ultimately ruling “tanning is worse than cosmetic surgery.”

“Cosmetic surgery happens with a plan between a physician and a patient and that plan has a goal,” Quinlan said. “The risks are discussed up front. With tanning, there is no long term planning. The goal is to get tan instantly so there’s a higher risk.”

Despite the dangers, 30 million Americans each year are willing to the pay the price. The average cost of tanning per month is between $20 and $40, and for one session it ranges from $7 to $10. According to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, the 25,000 professional businesses would bring in an estimated $2.7 billion in taxes over the next decade.

Some argue that the tanning industry was an easy target because of its small size and inadequate representation. There is also debate on whether the tax discriminates against women. Sixty-seven percent of tanning businesses are owned and operated by women, according to the International Smart Tan Network.

“For the most part, tanners are young, like college students or women in their early 20s and 30s who are lower wage earners,” Scott said.

With hopes of improving the health care system by bringing in the tax money, there is concern that the increased prices of tanning could cause small businesses to lose their customers. The closing of these tanning salons could affect the economy negatively.

Scott said the tax will cause her business to lose money.

“If the economy was in a different state maybe it would help our business,” she said, “but right now it will adversely affect the business because we’re already battling that.”

— Edited by Kelly Gibson

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