Beauty standards change over decades, and that pattern is the same when it comes to favored skin color. Prior to the 1920s, it was preferred to have fair skin, because the lighter complexion meant money. It was associated with wealth because a fair complexion requires staying inside instead of working in the sun and this was only possible if there was a good amount of money to fund staying inside all day. However in the 1920s, Coco Chanel popularized the tan, making it a highly desired fashion statement. Except the rise of the tan was just as connected to wealth as fair skin was; a tan meant enough wealth to afford vacations to get tanned in the first place (Defino, 2022). Many countries still see “fair” skin as the superior skin tone, but the West has moved their obsession on to that perfect beach tan. What’s surprising however, is that it seems no one chases a good tan more than the U. S Congress. 

Some Big Beautiful Bills

There has been no shortage of media coverage over the Big Beautiful Bill that passed on July 4, 2025, but for review, the bill was essentially a ton of decisions on the economic spending of the country and taxes in order to better benefit the working class (The White House, 2025). It sought to remove taxes on tips, overtime, social security, and….tans? The bill that passed fortunately did not include the removal of tax on indoor tanning services, but this was not the first time congress faced the tan tax. The tan tax is a 10% tax on all indoor tanning services that employ any electronic product designed to incorporate one or more ultraviolet lamps intended for the irradiation of an individual by ultraviolet radiation, with wavelengths in air between 200 and 400 nanometers, to induce skin tanning, under the Affordable Care Act in 2010. In fact the tax was actually an attempt to deter people from getting UV induced tans (Smith, 2025 pg. 26). The Big Beautiful Bill aimed to benefit the working class, but the working class is not interested in indoor tanning, the rich are. A 2022 study shows that for every 10% increase in income, tanning bed usage increases by 8.23% (Meredith, 2022). For a service so coveted by the rich, it seems that a tax is too much to pay. The efforts to repeal the tan tax started back in 2015, brought up by Representative George Holding who reasoned that the tax targeted small businesses, and then in 2018 by Senator Rand Pau (Sepp, 2015)l. This repeal was attempted again in 2023 and this year, 2025, through the Big Beautiful Bill and again this year through H. R. 1940 which has been introduced to Congress (Congress, 2025). It’s almost ridiculous how many times it was attempted to repeal the tax and each one has always focused on the small businesses that were burdened by the 10% tax (Paul, 2023). Yet every single time, the attempt was rejected. This rejection was supported by organizations like The Department of Health and Human services because as intended, the tax deterred people from the tanning beds (Philips, 2025). 

But Why Are These Indoor Tanning Services so Bad?

Indoor tanning causes irreversible damage to the skin. At its core, UV tanning damages the cells on your outermost skin by harming the DNA in it. In order to protect itself, the skin then starts producing melanin, darkening the skin. This damage ends up being the base for all other indoor tan related problems. Indoor tanning can cause sunburn, premature aging, skin cancer, solar keratoses, eye damage, immune system suppression, and more. Commonly, the UV rays damage the outer layer of the skin. These cells then start sending signals to the body which induces the feeling of burning pain in the sun burnt area. The immune system will get rid of the damaged skin cells, causing more reddening, itchiness, and peeling. While this side effect amongst others like eye damage and immune system suppression are pressing concerns, the reason most professionals advise against tanning is cancer (FDA, 2023). UV light has been determined to be a carcinogen or a cancer causing agent. This carcinogen causes skin cancers of which the three most common are Melanoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma, and Squamous Cell Skin Cancer. Overall, the genetic damage from UV rays is what causes skin cancer, but there are some more specific ways that each type of cancer may be developed. The UV light from tanning beds and other indoor tanning services increases chances of developing a cancerous benign mole which leads to Melanoma. This type of cancer is the most dangerous and causes the most deaths out of skin cancer related mortalities (AAD, 2025). Basal Cell Carcinoma on the other hand causes the patch of discolored skin to form. This type of cancer stems from genetic damage in the basal cells under the epidermis which is a common effect of UV rays (Karagas, 2025). Squamous Cell Carcinoma is similar to Basal Cell in that it is also mainly developed because of the genetic damage done to its DNA and also causes an area of discoloration. What’s similar about squamous and basal cell carcinomas is that they both can develop quickly because of the harm done to the immune system by the UV rays. Because both types of cells rely on the immune system to help do their job properly, the weakening of it makes it harder for them to fight abnormal and cancerous cells, leading much faster to their respective types of cancer (FDA, 2023). 

Health organizations have been fighting against the tanning trend ever since the evidence of its role in cancer has come out. Although the trend has lost some traction, it seems that congress cannot get over the craze. It’s not worth it to repeal the tax because lives matter and cancer is not forgiving, especially not to a tan.