Tanning salon-goers seeking bronzed bods will have to pay more for a sun-kissed look this summer.
The new health care bill will impose a 10 percent excise tax on tanning salons starting July 1, and local business owners are feeling burned.
Nancy Geisendurg, the owner of Tan USA on Northwest 39th Avenue, said the government is unfairly discriminating against the tanning industry by imposing the tax.
“If they had it across the board, like [on] nail salons, masseuses — that would be different,” Geisendurg said. “Why am I being targeted?”
Kelley Anderson, another local tanning salon owner who runs Lae Tanning and Boutique on West University Avenue, agreed.
“Why pick on this industry?” she said.
For all of the negative publicity tanning salons get, Anderson said there are a lot of misconceptions about tanning and the vitamin D health benefits it provides.
But for dermatologists and skin-care advocates, the tax signified a move in the right direction.
“...Anytime you increase a price on a service, you can be sure it’s going to go down,” said Mel Toran, the executive director of North Central Florida’s American Cancer Society.
UF sophomore Kayla Stewart, who tans in the winter, said the tax may not stop her from tanning but the change may be for the better.
“I don’t blame them for it,” she said.
