Oconomowoc salon owner says Obamacare tanning tax forces her to close
Town of Oconomowoc - A clause in the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, has led to one local business shutting down, and is also affecting others.
Rio Tan, formerly on Brown Street, decided to close after the presidential election, said owner Marijo Rislov.
"When Obama defeated Romney in the election, I knew Obamacare would be upheld. In Obamacare there is a 10-percent tanning tax," she explained.
The tax was added to healthcare reform in place of an originally proposed 5-percent tax on Botox and cosmetic surgery referred to as "Botax."
Rislov said the tax made a significant difference in her business. She said she was making only a 10-percent profit at Rio Tan, "so Obama was getting 100 percent of my proceeds." Rislov said that instead of passing along the burden to her customers, she decided it was time to forego the tanning salon venture.
While Rislov said the tanning tax was enough to close up shop, Mary Beth Feider, who owns Jennifer & Co Tanning Spa on East Wisconsin Avenue in Oconomowoc, said she took over ownership of her business just as the tanning tax was implemented, so it's something that's always been there for her.
"I think people don't mind paying it. It's the same as a tax on cigarettes and alcohol," said Feider.
Feider said she also offers tanning at relatively low prices to attract customers and help offset the tax.
"You can tan pretty inexpensively with specials. We offer month specials like tanning for as little as 28 cents a minute," said Feider.
But Jason Ripp, co-owner of Tropitana Tanning Salon on Main Street, Oconomowoc, agreed with Rislov that the tanning tax has taken a toll on businesses.
"We saw right away that a lot of salons in the area shut down because of that, but for us when they closed we got customers looking for another place," said Ripp.
Ripp agreed that the tax cuts into profits. He said the salon tries to make up for it in other ways. "We try to sell more products because that's only a 5-percent tax. So we'll give away free tanning if you buy so many products," he said.
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16 Comments
dogger - Mar 11, 2013 5:02 PM
of business. Look at the taxes hotels charge, "sin" taxes like alcohol and tobacco and
the gasoline tax, as a few examples that are far greater. Maybe it has a little
something to do with Wisconsin's terrible record in job creation and far slower
recovery from the recession than our bordering midwestern states, thanks to the
governor that I'm sure these same ex-business owners elected into office.
rowdy99 - Mar 11, 2013 5:16 PM
MrBoourns - Mar 11, 2013 6:39 PM
Pay for the health costs of skin cancer or stop people from ever developing skin cancer. Which means tanning salons will close.
TrappedinMKE - Mar 11, 2013 7:01 PM
on a product that only dark skinned people used? It would never happen.
adam4 - Mar 11, 2013 9:15 PM
stillriding - Mar 12, 2013 3:38 AM
If your costs go up 10%, you need to find a way to either absorb or pass it on. Most businesses could not incur a 10% price increase without reacting in some way or another.
The first step in making money is to start losing less. Most businesses don't stay in business long by losing money.
Town of Laker - Mar 12, 2013 5:45 AM
Pierre Del Norte - Mar 12, 2013 7:18 AM
Only in Waukesha would they try to blame it on the re-election of President Obama.
thebax - Mar 12, 2013 3:50 PM
Hey Pierre, I've got friends that own small businesses (30 employees) and they are being pressed hard by all the crap your Socialist President put in our health care bill! Wait until it effects you too!!
Pierre Del Norte - Mar 12, 2013 5:07 PM
You mean eight years of the "Rhodes Scholar" cowboy from Texas, who single-handedly tried to bring about the complete collapse of free market capitalism as it exists in the entire Western world?
And almost succeeded.
That was something the geniuses in the KGB could only dream of doing.
And you want to call President Obama a socialist?
Obama, who brought our economy back from the brink of disaster; Cut the budget deficit in HALF in his first term; Actually did something about the healthcare delivery system that was costing the US 30% MORE that our nearest industrialized competitor; Brought unemployment down to 7.7%?
All without ANY HELP from those republican clowns in congress?
And you have the UNMITTEGATED IGNORANCE to call him a SOCIALIST?
WOW - Welcome to Waukesha County!
Home to the original knuckle-dragging Cro-Magnons.
Pierre Del Norte - Mar 12, 2013 5:12 PM
Have you looked at you 401(k) lately?
Have you compared it to where it was when GW Bush left office?
And Obama is a SOCIALIST?
You sir are a pathetic lilliputian.
John in Conover - Mar 12, 2013 9:21 PM
"Cro magnons" work for our living not like the freeloaders that obummer loves.
sharpaxe - Mar 13, 2013 8:00 AM
Pierre Del Norte - Mar 13, 2013 8:53 AM
As a % of GDP, the deficit was 10% when President Obama took office and was 5% at the end of his first term. That is where sharpie had problems - doing the math to come up with "cut-in-half" calculation. For some reason, he ran out of fingers.
It is not rocket surgery John. But it can be difficult if your only source of information comes from that intellectual cesspool - Otherwise known as Fox News and AM Talk radio.
As for your 401(k) - The S&P500 index was 735 when Obama took over from Bush. As of today it is 1,554. sharpie - can you do the math on this one?
Yea, that's right - more than double. John - You may not want to get your investment ideas from the likes of Glen Beck or old El Rushbo.
"Cro magnons" work for our living not like the freeloaders that obummer loves."
Not sure who you are you are referring to as freeloaders. I hope it is not who I think it is.
I will give you the benefit of the doubt and just believe those freeloaders are the famous "Romney 47%."
Oh, by the way - Did you know Paul Ryan's mother is a freeloader?
Carl Hicks - Mar 13, 2013 1:16 PM
Pierre Del Norte - Mar 13, 2013 2:03 PM
So, why aren't we celebrating that news rather than trying to blame failure on President Obama?
That must be the Waukesha County version of "free enterprise" - I am all for it unless I am on the losing end.
"Capitalism without the concept of failure would be like religion without the concept of sin." - Alfred Lord Keynes