Nip, tuck and tax? The government’s plan to institute a new cosmetic surgery tax intends to get people to pay more to look attractive. / Korea Times File |
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Men and women contemplating cosmetic surgery: Make up your mind before next July because you may have to pay more for the same procedure if medical experts fail to stop the government from slapping a 10-percent tax on surgical makeovers.
Plastic surgery is are currently exempt from value added tax (VAT), but the Ministry of Strategy and Finance recently announced its plan to levy a ``vanity'' tax starting July 2010 on all cosmetic procedures not covered by the national health insurance.
This means everything from eyelid surgery and nose jobs to liposuction to breast augmentation will become more expensive.
The reaction from physicians and patients? They say the idea is just plain ugly.
Immediately after the government unveiled the new tax revision plan, physicians, patients and tax experts argued that instituting the new cosmetic surgery tax is unreasonable.
They claimed that the medical practice isn't done only to improve a person's beauty, but also to treat depression from inferiority complexes and restore self-esteem.
``Many people choose to undergo cosmetic operations not simply because they want to look good, but because they want to equip themselves with more confidence to have a better shot at landing a job or to overcome a life-long struggle with their self image,'' said Shin Yong-ho, the head physician of BK Dongyang Clinic in southern Seoul. ``It's not fair for people who saved hard for a chance to regain self-esteem.''
Eyelid surgery _ the most popular and widespread type of plastic surgery here _ now costs anywhere from 1 million to 1.5 million won. But the additional VAT is expected to raise the price by 10 percent.
The affordable prices here are one of the biggest factors that have attracted thousands of foreign tourists every year to the country to get a little nip and tuck. But an increased fee, surgeons say, is likely to cool the cosmetic surgery tourism boom.
``More Japanese and Chinese clinics are starting to offer makeovers that are similar to those done here, so it's a loss for Korea if it falls behind in price competitiveness,'' said Kim Yong-tae, chief physician at a clinic in central Seoul.
Another concern the industry has is where the government will draw the line in imposing the new tax.
The strategy and finance ministry has yet to clearly indicate which procedures will get taxed and which will be exempted.
``There are hair transplants, eye-corrective LASIK surgery and so many other medical procedures that are done to improve a person's beauty, so is the government going to slap a tax on all of those, too?'' said an official of the Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons.
The industry group says it plans to officially address the issue after collecting the opinions of member surgeons.
jhan@koreatimes.co.kr
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