A 10 percent tax will be added to indoor tanning bills beginning today.
The tax is part of the health care reform President Obama signed into law in March.
The tax will be placed on electronic products that require one or more ultraviolet lamps with wavelengths between 200 and 400 nanometers, according to Internal Revenue Service guidelines.
The tax is expected to produce $2.7 billion by 2019, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. This money will fund the new health care reform package and requires tanning salons to collect and report the tax to the government each quarter.
The tanning tax replaced the 5 percent "Botax" on cosmetic surgery after complaints from medical and dermatological associations.
John Overstreet, spokesman for the Indoor Tanning Association, said the tax is an intrusion by the government into Americans' lives.
"You better watch. Next you know they will go down to Daytona and put a tax on lying in the sun," Overstreet said.
According to Overstreet, businesses are already on the edge as is.
"You can't raise product by 10 percent and not have an effect," Overstreet said. "Those that are already struggling will hurt, no question about it."
The tax will affect an estimated 18,000 small businesses nationwide including retail, manufacturing and distribution businesses, as well as the 10 percent of Americans who tan indoors each year, according to the ITA.
Mandi Nazzaro, owner of The Golden Gator, said she hopes there will be more demand for spray tanning services her salon offers once the tax begins.
"I hope there is more business, but I don't anticipate there will be," Nazzaro said.
She thinks most people that prefer UV tanning will stick with it. Her business hasn't seen any direct effect as of now.
Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Businesses said the new tax will reduce business.
"Higher taxes mean less investment, reduced growth and fewer customers - hardly the prescription for future job growth our country needs," Rys said.
Allison DeGroat, a UF biology junior, said the positives of the new tanning tax outweigh the negatives.
"I believe this newly enforced taxation will cause some tanning-bed clients to limit their tanning frequency, which will decrease their chances of developing skin cancer," DeGroat said.
DeGroat said she thinks being tan makes her look better, healthier and more vibrant, but still thinks the new tax is fair.
