Breaking news is the elimination of the New Jersey Cosmetic Surgery Tax. Governor Christie signed this law!

The repeal of the tax will be implemented over a 3 year period starting in July 2012. In July the tax will be reduced from 6% to 4%. It will go to 2% from July 2013 to July 2014. It will then goto 0% after July 1, 2014.

NJ implemented this tax in 2004. It quickly failed to raise the revenue that had been hoped. A repeal measure previously failed to pass when Governor Corzine would not sign it into law. It has been said that it cost more to implement and run the tax than was collected.

The law has been very difficult to New Jersey patients. Some patients have chosen to go to neighboring states like New York or Pennsylvania to avoid paying the 6% tax. Other patients who save for years for these procedures have had to save even longer and wait to have surgery or have not been able to afford it altogether due to this extra burden. Many people have called the tax discriminatory against women and the middle class who constitute the majority of plastic surgery patients.

In the end, it will be nice to see this tax go away. The administrative burden alone is a nuisance. While going away in stages of 4% then 2% then ultimately 0 is annoying, it is better than it never going away!

I’d love to hear your comments and posts on this topic!