WASHINGTON, DC (June 22)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The American Suntanning Association announced Thursday that the U.S. Senate\u2019s bill introduced Thursday to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act includes a provision to repeal the 10 percent \u2018Tan Tax\u2019 on Sept. 30 \u2014 one quarter earlier than the tax repeal date in legislation that already passed the U.S. House of Representatives in May.<\/p>\n
Republican Senate leaders have told the press they want to move quickly on this bill. The New York Times reported Thursday that leaders want debate and a vote to all take place before the July 4 holiday.<\/p>\n
Senate passage of the bill would lead to a conference committee reconciling differences between the House and Senate bills, which then would need to be approved by both bodies before being signed into law by the President. The conference committee is where the date of the Tan Tax repeal would be decided.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s work left to do, but the Tan Tax is closer to the scrap heap than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of effort that went into putting us in this position is beyond colossal,\u201d ASA President Melinda Norton said. \u201cThe ASA federal lobbying team \u2013 both staff and volunteers \u2013 has put thousands of hours into telling our story on Capitol Hill: that the tax failed as a revenue producer for Obamacare, closed more than 9,000 businesses, killed 95,000 jobs and pushed those who wish to use sunbeds into non-salon tanning where sunburn was more likely. Congress understands: It\u2019s hard to imagine any other way the tax could have been a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
What that means is this: After four years and more than 1,200 meetings with members of Congress on Capitol Hill, the American Suntanning Association\u2019s cornerstone lobbying objective \u2013 repealing the devastating 10 percent Tan Tax \u2013 is closer than ever to happening.<\/p>\n
The 10-percent Tan Tax was fiscally irresponsible and totally ineffective. That\u2019s why 112 members of Congress from both parties signed on as co-authors and sent a stand-alone bill to President Obama\u2019s Desk (2015 HR 2698) to repeal it and why it is once again on the chopping block. This failed tax raised significantly less than one-third of what was projected and cost the government $11 million a year to collect while closing more than 9,000 American tanning salons and killing 95,000 jobs.\u00a0Those closures cost the treasury revenue and involved countless SBA loan defaults. All-in-all, this tax may have actually cost the treasury money.<\/p>\n
As an unintended consequence the 10% tax led to a large increase in non-salon tanning in apartment complexes, home sunbeds and unregulated units in non-salon locations \u2014 places without professional operators trained to properly set exposure times to minimize the risk of sunburn. So the tax failed as a revenue producer for the ACA, closed more than 9,000 businesses, killed 95,000 jobs and pushed those who wish to use sunbeds into non-salon tanning where sunburn was more likely.<\/p>\n
As Norton said, it\u2019s hard to imagine any other way the tax could have been a failure.<\/p>\n
Tan Tax Timeline:<\/strong><\/p>\n WASHINGTON, DC (June 22)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The American Suntanning Association announced Thursday that the U.S. Senate\u2019s bill introduced Thursday to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act includes a provision to repeal the 10 percent \u2018Tan Tax\u2019 on Sept. 30 \u2014 one quarter earlier than the tax repeal date in legislation that already passed the U.S. House of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\n