TODAY'S QUESTION: Is the new tanning tax unfair to businesses?

 Business owners in the tanning industry are concerned the government hammer has been turned on them with the new tanning tax.

The new tax will cost customers 10 percent more to get that artificial, brownish glow. The money from the tanning tax will help fund $2.7 billion of the $940 billion cost of the federal health care bill.

Strong support for the tax has come from dermatologists, who argue there is a link between an increase in skin cancer in young women and tanning beds.

“The FDA has called UV light a carcinogen since 2002,” said Karen Edison, chair of the MU department of dermatology. “There is no such thing as a safe tan.”

Business owners worry the 10 percent increase will keep customers away and many are unsure how this will affect their business.

Melanie Karrick, the owner of Key Largo Fitness and Tanning, said she is against the tax.

“I have held my prices for many years,” she said in an interview with the Missourian. “It doesn’t help business owners or the customer. A 10 percent increase is very high.”

Is the new tanning tax unfair to businesses?