When Congress passed legislation to repeal the Tan Tax last January as part of a larger bill package, it was a momentous step in the right direction for indoor tanning. Thousands of hours of Capitol Hill meetings by the American Suntanning Association’s federal lobbying team gained the necessary support from political leaders who became receptive to our industry’s scientifically substantiated position. Unfortunately, the milestone was more or less symbolic at the time, as there was little chance that President Barack Obama would sign a bill into law that would strike down any part of his legacy, the Affordable Care Act.

But now, after eight years of what many consider to be a federal administration unfriendly to business in general, and particularly harsh on indoor tanning, the opportunity for real progress may be upon us. The election of newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, who campaigned prominently on business-friendly promises, can be expected to bring about wide-reaching changes for indoor tanning businesses.

First and foremost, the 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services should be abolished in the near future.

“It’s going to be repealed in the coming months. The House and Senate have a number of important issues to debate and approve, but there is a chance the tax could be repealed by the time [salons] get this magazine,” says Bart Bonn, ASA’s immediate past president. “Now what we need to do is keep it repealed, because there will be a replacement for the Affordable Care Act and we just want to make sure that we’re not the one paying for it. It’s going to get repealed through the Reconciliation bill, which we were in last year that passed last January, but President Obama vetoed it. Now, President Trump is expected to sign the bill, which will end the tax.”

The Tanning Tax Repeal Act of 2015 passed Congress as part of the overarching Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015. At that time, the ASA had already gained bi-partisan support from 79 elected representatives for the Tan Tax repeal portion in the Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. With Republicans still in the majority in both legislative chambers, it is all but a forgone conclusion that the Reconciliation Act will be sent to the President’s desk for his signature. According to Bonn, the Tan Tax repeal bill had 111 co-sponsors by the time the 114^th Congress ended on January 2, 2017. The majority of those sponsors were sworn in to the 115^th Congress. ASA’s current focus is to continue to encourage additional support from new members of Congress as well as those who hadn’t previously supported the bill.

“Our goal is to make the statement to congressional leadership that there is wide support for the repeal of this tax and it needs to stay repealed,” Bonn says. “The tax has failed in every possible way. It has cost the economy roughly 10,000 salon businesses, over 94,000 jobs, and it has only generated 30 percent of the revenue they said it would collect.”

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.