In hopes of keeping this post somewhat short and sweet I don’t plan on getting into a massive introduction, in addition to this blog I also own and operate a chain of indoor tanning salons in Florida. Some of you might not be aware that on Christmas eve a bunch of idiots in Washington gathered around and came up with a last minute 10% tax on tanning services.
In addition to posting the information below I have a post coming up with 5 things you can do to stop the tan tax, for those of you that enjoy indoor tanning or your a tanning salon owner here are a few concerning facts about the 10% tan tax.
Oppose the 10% Tax on Tanning Services
The ten-percent tax on tanning services included in the Senate-passed healthcare reform bill is a regressive tax that would unfairly hit working women and college students who comprise the majority of indoor tanning consumers. In Florida, there are approximately 635,000 customers who would be impacted by this tax.
Furthermore, the tax would hit an estimated 1,016 retail businesses as well as businesses in the manufacturing and distribution sectors in the state significantly harming these companies and jeopardizing the thousands of jobs they generate. Nationally, the indoor tanning industry is made of approximately 20,000 small businesses nationwide employing approximately 150,000 people.
Because tanning is something people do with disposable income, this industry has already been hit hard by the recession. If someone is concerned about their job, paying the mortgage or buying groceries and gasoline, that person is not likely to spend money on a tan.
The retail side of this industry is made up of one and two store operations, classic small businesses. The stores are typically owned and operated by women who have taken out a second mortgage on a home or invested their life savings and are pursuing the American dream.
Not only are the majority of these businesses owned and operated by women, as many as 75% of the employees and customers are women as well.
Although the CBO estimates that this tax will raise $2.7 billion over ten years or an average of 270,000,000 annually, this figure is vastly over estimated. Most industry insiders believe that figure may be double or even three times too high.
This is a punitive tax inserted at the request of the other medical trade associations whose members would have been detrimentally impacted by originally proposed 5% tax on elective cosmetic procedures – a high-margin business for medical providers who perform these expensive vanity procedures.
The tanning tax was added very late in the process with no input from the industry regarding its impact or opportunity for amendment.
We are not asking for reinstatement of the Botax. We only ask that the Congress not try to pay for healthcare reform with a tax that will have negligible impact on the trillion dollar cost of the proposal but will have a significant negative impact on a struggling industry.
Therefore, in Florida would respectfully request that Senator Nelson request of Majority Leader Harry Reid and Chairman Max Baucus, that the tanning tax be eliminated in the final conference report. Please visit The ITA for information on who to contact in your state to oppose the 10% tax on tanning services.
Cole Stan (2)
KyAus @ Those.Tips (2)
SafariDave (2)
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
well , i think 10 percent should not be a problem for your royal member…. am i right ?
EarningStep´s last blog ..How Valuable a domain will be – flipping domain to make money
@EarningStep, this isn’t just about “royal” indoor tanning clients, it’s much deeper than even being about just indoor tanning.
Obama is a racist! Pretty much only white people use tanning salons. You seldom see black folks or mexicans there. If they tax tanning salons, they should tax hair relaxer and jalapino peppers too!
I think the part that I really don’t like about this tax is that it’s going to hurt small business owners. Whether you like tanning or not, it’s unfair to pick out one industry, especially one that’s made up especially of small mom and pop businesses. It’s like the bully picking on someone that can’t stop them. I can think of million industries that are a lot more harmful to the general health of America.
Mike @DailyShotOfCoffee´s last blog ..Zojirushi Fresh Brew Thermal 10-Cup Carafe Coffeemaker Preview
@Mike @DailyShotOfCoffee, your right on point Mike and the sad part is this is another one of those situations where it might be tanning now….. but what’s next? Soda? Fast Food?
@Extreme John, As long as they avoid the coffee shops it’s all good! JK
Mike @DailyShotOfCoffee´s last blog ..N.O. Brew Storyville Mocha Review
@Mike @DailyShotOfCoffee, gee thanks. Don’t be surprised….
I wonder how much time will pass until we’ll have a tax on the air we breathe.
Car News and Reviews´s last blog ..New BMW 5 Series engines specifications at a glance
@Car News and Reviews, at this pace it won’t take very long at all.
John, they have declared war on the middle class.
Until the middle class stops lining like sheep for shearing, it won’t stop until there is no middle class.
And the middle class is shrinking, make no mistake.
Dave Doolin @ Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Made to Stick: Earworms for your brain
@Dave Doolin @ Website In A Weekend, it’s been happening for a while now Dave, your right and it’s only going to get worse.
I’m sure that college students which make up a tremendous part of the future for this country love the idea of having the pennies they barely have in their pocket now chipped away at.
@Extreme John, wait until they find out how much of their student loan burden is full recourse.
Dave Doolin @ Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Made to Stick: Earworms for your brain
What I don’t get is they are touting this as a way to help pay for healthcare reform when this will cause a decrease in business for the tanning salons therefore creating less than the estimated income to pay for the reform. As I understood it, it was meant to discourage people from going to a tanning salon – much like the continued rise in tobacco products.
@Anne, that is a tremendous part of it. There are two clowns in the White House that HATE TANNING and I mean HATE IT, if they have their way with things I wouldn’t be surprised if indoor tanning business’s vanished. Along with all of the income, employment opps and everything else that goes along with it.
I hate slow drivers in the left hand lane that drive right next to the car to their right, does this mean that I should be able to impose a slow left lane driver tax or close the left hand lane all together? Dumbest ish I have ever heard.
Thank you as always for commenting and the retweet
I don’t tan anymore thanks to a skin cancer scare but I still see how this tax can very much hurt small business owners and is overall unfair and in no way will help pay for HCR.
I feel that all it takes is one or two people in Washington to say something is bad for you or dislike something and all of a sudden a bill is passed.
Before you know it all of the little things we enjoy in life will be slowly ripped away from us by our Government.
Jennifer´s last blog ..Jen_Savasta: @Starla_Moonites Happy Wednesday!!
Keep posting
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and
Keep Emailing.
We can beat this thing.
SafariDave
There are plenty of other things the FDA allows people to use / consume that are possibly going to damage us in the long run, and most of those things are not additionally taxed.
Everyone who is against this needs to take a stand and contact not just the senator, but also write letters to your local newspapers to make your feelings known about the tax. The more additional exposure you get on the subject, the more supporters of small businesses will help in voicing their opinion to the government.
Why do they want a special tax on tanning? Seems sortof crazy to me. is it seen as a “sin” tax like cigarettes? Obviously we are asking our government to pay for much more than we are willing to be taxed for. We either need to vote out the bozos that have been spending what they don’t have for decades or we need to raise taxes. But if we raise taxes it should be just raising the taxes overall not targeting anything.
Though I actually would be fine with a gas tax (if we need to raise some tax) – which I realize is a targeted tax. Though, obviously first we should not favor rich kids trust funds from paying the most capitalist tax there is the inheritance tax. http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/2009/12/06/house-votes-to-restore-partial-estate-tax-very-richest-over-7-million/
John @ Curious Cat Management Blog´s last blog ..Lean Manufacturing Simulation (webcast)
Extreme John, what’s up, bro! Happy New Year! I hope you and the family had a very nice holiday season.
I’m excited to be blogging more frequently again and reviewing a number of your past posts as we speak.
I can’t believe this tax. Another tax! This one might even convince my wife to lobby against it.
@The Constant Complainer, I hope it does convince your wife to lobby against it, every little bit helps thats for sure.
Happy New Year and it’s nice to see you getting back into things, I am just getting back into the swing as of right now.
Okay let me try that again.
ZXT@MMA Pound for Pound´s last blog ..Online Faxing
I’ve been saying this for years. The government has been going after cigarette smokers for years now in an effort to tax them out of existance. People wake up! This is the kind of thing that our founding fathers waged a revolution over!
Once they’re done with smokers, they WILL move on other things in the vein of “public safety”. They’ve already gone after trans fats and tanning. They’re starting to go after sugary drinks. The simple fact is that the government is moving in a direction in which it will tell you how to live your life, what to eat, drink, and what to spend your money on, and what you can and can’t do in your free time. This is NOT freedom. This is NOT liberty. This is NOT America.
Extreme John, for what it’s worth, you have my support.
Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment´s last blog ..Self Improvement Through The Workforce
@Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment, what’s amazing to me is that most American’s knew when the war on smoking started that this would just lead to taxes on more of the things we enjoy. I’m not a smoker, but I never liked the ridiculous tax and attack on smokers.
Thank you for your support Trey it means a lot thank you.
This is ridiculous, I always wonder where they come up with this crap. “Hey let’s pick a type of business out of a hat and tax it.” Everyone is already taxed to death and the economy is getting worse, these guys in Washington need to wake up and leave small business owners some space to breath.
You got one party trying to dictate what they feel is healthy and what is unhealthy. They are going to tax the crap out of anything they don’t feel is a healthy habit.
Steve´s last blog ..Find Tax Help in Spanish
Amazing what the government will tax, isn’t it? Yes, maybe a tax will prevent some from tanning, but targeting small tanning salons and possibly putting them out of business isn’t such a great move, especially in this economy.
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