By Tim Shoemaker
Starting in July, tanning enthusiasts will have to begin paying a 10% tax on the service. According to CNN,
John Overstreet, the executive director of The Indoor Tanning Association, decried the new tax calling it, “a crummy, crummy way to make tax policy.”
Lawmakers had considered taxing elective cosmetic procedures, but changed the language to tax indoor tanning services instead.
“We’ve been hit by the recession already,” Overstreet said. “A 10 percent tax will be a body blow to the industry.”
But UV-emitting tanning devices have been classified as “carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization.
The last paragraph goes without any comment on the CNN article but it deserves some here. Lawmakers appear to be taxing tanning because it has been deemed “unhealthy”. The bad precedent being set by this policy is that any activity or product determined as “unhealthy” by the federal government is fair game to be taxed to pay for health care.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait till I have to spend $50 for that X-Large cheese pizza in order to pay my ‘fair share’ of health care costs…(sarcasm intended)