| Jan. 28, 2005
Lawmakers look to tax facelifts; the fabulous cry foul By REBECCA COOK
Associated Press Writer
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ Nip, tuck and ... tax?
Lawmakers trying to plump up the bottom line are considering a "vanity
tax" on cosmetic surgery and Botox injections in Washington, Illinois
and other states.
Plastic surgeons and their patients say the idea is just plain ugly.
"It
makes no sense. Where does it stop - massages, facials, teeth
cleanings?" asked Karen Wakefield, 51, who has had a nose job,
dermabrasion, liposuction, tummy tuck and breast lift - plus a little
Botox here and there.
"Even
having a baby is elective surgery," added Wakefield, an event planner in
Woodinville. "Why not tax that, too?"
The
Washington state senator who proposed the tax said she has never gone
under the knife for beauty, but wouldn't rule it out.
"I,
too, look in the mirror and see my mother," said Democrat Karen Keiser,
57, of the Seattle suburb of Kent. But she thinks cosmetic surgery
patients can afford the state's 6.5 percent sales tax. She wants to
earmark the money for poor children's health insurance.
"We
could do Botox-for-babies parties. It might be the new thing," Keiser
said. "Anyone who can afford the money for cosmetic procedures, I don't
think they would be deterred by a little sales tax. You pay it on your
lipstick."
The
tax would not apply to reconstructive surgery for, say, burn victims or
women who have undergone mastectomies.
In
September, New Jersey became the first and so far the only state to tax
plastic surgery, at 6 percent. The tax is projected to bring in $25
million a year.
In
Illinois, the state comptroller has proposed a 6 percent tax on cosmetic
surgery to create a stem cell research institute. If the Legislature
approves, the question could be put to the voters in 2006.
In
California, the very capital of cosmetic surgery, such procedures are
tax-free.
The
cosmetic surgery tax is a cousin to the "sin taxes" many states slap on
drinking, smoking and gambling during tough budget times.
"In
this anti-tax climate, these user-based, selective tax proposals are
more palatable than broader ones," said Bert Waisaner, tax policy
analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The
American Society of Plastic Surgeons frowns on this new wrinkle, calling
New Jersey's law a "dangerous precedent."
Seattle surgeon Dr. Phil Haeck noted that 86 percent of cosmetic surgery
patients are women.
"This
is an unfair tax on women," said Haeck, editor of Plastic Surgery News.
"The bulk of the people who have procedures are not financially
upper-class women. They've saved hard, and this is about restoring their
self-esteem."
Wakefield, for one, wants people to know she paid for her own nips and
tucks.
"I'm
not married to some rich guy," she said. "I worked my butt off for
this."
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