US Government Proposes to Tax Tan Lines

In a bogus altruistic move, the US government will tack on a 10% tax to all indoor tanning services starting July 1^st, 2010, raising the cost of a bronzed glow to just above an arm and a leg.

As if indoor tanning wasn't expensive enough thanks to a greedy industry that likens high tanning/lotion costs to "taking candy from a baby" (2008 Island Sun Times), this new tax will do nothing more than pad the pockets of pasty lawmakers who are sure to squander money earned from this new tax.

The government believes creating an indoor tanning tax will help alert tanners of the very real risk of skin cancer. In real life, this tax will do one of two things; it will either keep tanners away due to the added cost, or it will stop tanning bed operators from charging up to 150% over the wholesale cost of popular indoor tanning lotions such as California Tan and Australian Gold. What it won't do, is keep the tanner away simply because of risks. We all know the risks of indoor tanning and ultraviolet light, just like all smokers know about lung cancer.

The tanning industry is already up in arms over the nation's first under-18 ban of indoor tanning in Howard County, MD. This is the same industry that refuses to acknowledge research linking indoor tanning to skin cancer. The tanning industry is delusional and corrupt, and they have no problems putting teens at risk as long as pockets of tanning's who's who stay filled. Unfortunately, the tanning industry isn't big enough to send off any real red flags to lawmakers.

As a fellow tanner, with an "in" that allows me to know what's going on behind the scenes, I hate the industry, not the tanning beds. If I want to get a tan, I shouldn't have to share my bed with a lawmaker. I know tanning is bad for my skin and I know to buy my lotions from online wholesalers. I know shop owners are taught at conventions to be highly prejudiced as far as who gets hired to work the front desk. This is one industry that needs morals and legislation, but the focus should be placed on tanning salon owners - not their patrons.

Still, what's done is done, and come July, indoor tanners will have to decide whether vanity is more important than empty wallets, an internal struggle that has gone on for decades.