Republicans Repeal Tanning Business Tax

Legislation was recently introduced by a committee of House Republicans to repeal the ten percent tax on companies that provide tanning services. The tax, which was introduced under the President’s measures to reform health care, has been widely regarded as being unfair to small businesses.

Michael Grimm, a New York Republican pointed out that middle class Americans and small business owners should not have to pay the bills for Obama’s reform of health care. Grimm went on to say that the tanning tax is just one of several unfair taxes that affect both business owners and customers and ultimately the … Read the rest

Legislation was recently introduced by a committee of House Republicans to repeal the ten percent tax on companies that provide tanning services. The tax, which was introduced under the President’s measures to reform health care, has been widely regarded as being unfair to small businesses.

Michael Grimm, a New York Republican pointed out that middle class Americans and small business owners should not have to pay the bills for Obama’s reform of health care. Grimm went on to say that the tanning tax is just one of several unfair taxes that affect both business owners and customers and ultimately the overall economy.

The tanning tax could adversely affect up to 120,000 people employed by around 18,000 small businesses, points out Phil Roe, a Tennessee Republican. To make his point, Roe stated that just over 3,000 tanning businesses have closed since 2009, because of this tax – a number that represents 15 percent of the overall industry and accounts for 24,000 jobs.

The tax was introduced in July and since then has caused a dispute during debates on health care when discussing both taxes 2010 and 2009. President Obama signed the Act for Affordable Care and Patient Protection (PPACA)in 2010 and supporters of the tanning tax argue that filing business tax such as this helps pay for care under this act.

Repealing the tanning tax is encouraged by the Federation of Independent Business and the organization claims that the PPACA could get rid of 1.6 million jobs by 2014, around 30 percent of which are in small businesses.