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A number of states are considering taxing certain cosmetic surgery procedures, including face-lifts, tummy-tucks and Botox injections. The idea behind the taxes -- dubbed "vanity taxes" or "Botaxes" by some -- is to boost state coffers and raise revenue for government initiatives such as health care for poor children. The proposals have stoked the ire of plastic surgeons and their patients, who have been lobbying hard to keep their procedures tax-free.
New Jersey passed the first cosmetic surgery tax law last summer. Since then, lawmakers in states including Texas, Illinois, Washington, Arkansas, Tennessee and New York have introduced bills or budget proposals to install similar taxes, although none of those states has passed the taxes into law. Legislative sessions have just ended in many states, but efforts to reintroduce the tax bills are likely to be revived in some. Proponents of the efforts say that since the taxes are levied on elective procedures, they are relatively painless ways to raise money for state programs.
This little tidbit must have caused a number of furrowed brows in Trenton:
No one knows for sure how many New Jersey patients are declining surgery or are going out of state for treatment since the law was passed. The tax hasn't generated as much revenue as New Jersey originally hoped. When the tax was signed into law last June it was expected to generate $24 million this fiscal year. The state now thinks the tax will only generate $7 million this year.
How dare these people forego surgery in New Jersey. Don't they know that it's all about the children?