Camp requests IRS outreach for tanning tax

The regulation requires providers of indoor tanning services to collect the tax and make quarterly payments to the IRS. It also exempts from the tax certain physical fitness facilities that offer tanning as an “incidental service to members without a separately identifiable fee.”

The tax is expected to raise $2.7 billion over 10 years to help pay for healthcare reforms, but representatives from the tanning industry predict the government will never see that revenue because the numbers simply don’t add up. 

John Overstreet, executive director at the Indoor Tanning Association, recently told The Hill that there are approximately 25,000 businesses nationwide offering tanning-bed services, which includes gyms and nail salons that could be exempt from paying the tax. 

However, assuming that all pay the tax, each business would have to pay $10.8 million to the IRS each year to meet the $2.7 billion 10-year figure. 

And while some spas and gyms earn millions of dollars, Overstreet said the typical tanning salon grosses approximately $250,000 each year. 

The IRS and Treasury have invited comment on the new regulation.