Earlier it was a Beckham tax, now a Botax. In the US, the Democratic Party has moved amendments to the 1986 Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on elective cosmetic medical procedures.

As the draft legislation has it, “There is hereby imposed on any cosmetic surgery and medical procedure a tax equal to 5 percent of the amount paid for such procedure (determined without regard to this section), whether paid by insurance or otherwise.” The tax, which will be a form of excise (sic) will be paid by the individual on whom the procedure is performed.

There's all the usual stuff you find in a charging provision; definitions, exemptions (it's not intended to be charged for repair work for example on the result of a disfiguring disease) and a commencement date. It would apply to nips and tucks performed on or after 1 January next at a flat rate.

At the time of writing, the outcome of the Senate vote on the measure is not known.

The market for elective cosmetic survey in the US is estimated to be worth around $5bn annually. 5% of that would be a lot of tax.