Tobacco News

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) joined a group of health advocates in Annapolis on Thursday to push for an increase in the tax on non-cigarette tobacco products, which were not affected when lawmakers voted to double the cigarette tax to $2 per pack in 2007.

The tax increase would generate an estimated $19 million for the state, according to the budget Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) proposed last week. Brown was quick to mention the anticipated revenue when he spoke to attendees, including the American Cancer Society, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and MedChi, the state’s medical society.
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The Department of Taxation was authorized Tuesday to hire three investigators to ensure small tobacco companies are paying 2 cents per cigarette to the state.

Taxation Director William Chisel told the state Board of Examiners that the employees must make sure that the funds are being received, or the state could lose a portion of the $40 million a year paid by all tobacco companies as part of a nationwide settlement.
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Two Democratic state lawmakers have filed proposals to raise Alabama’s cigarette taxes, one by 32.5 cents per pack and one by $1 per pack, in a bid to fill what could be a $400 million shortfall in the state General Fund next fiscal year, reported the Birmingham News.

State representative Patricia Todd filed a bill that would raise the state cigarette tax from 42.5 cents to 75 cents per pack, which would raise roughly an estimated $75 million a year for the General Fund.
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Repeated pleas to derail, or at least delay, sending a smoking restrictions proposal to Hannibal voters next April went up in smoke Tuesday night when the city council approved allowing the matter appear on the ballot by a 4-3 vote.
Tuesday’s vote was closer than when the measure came up for a first reading on Nov. 15. That vote wound up 5-2. Switching camps Tuesday night was Councilman Barry Louderman, who indicated prior to the vote he is not opposed to a smoking ban. Ream more »

Achsanul Qosasi, the House of Representatives’ (DPR) Finance Commission deputy-chairman, said that the implementation of Finance Minister Regulation No. 167 on Tobacco Excise Tariff may well be postponed. The postponement is conducted in order for the government to calculate the potential losses in state revenue due to illegal cigarettes.
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A federal appeals panel has upheld the state in its long-running battle to force Yakama tribal smoke shops to collect the $3.03 state cigarette tax from non-Indian buyers.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley, who ruled last year that tribal smoke shops on the 1.2 million-acre Yakama reservation must collect the tax. The ruling not only levels the playing field between tribal and non-tribal retailers, but clears up decades of dispute, said state Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Gowrylow.
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A Kanawha judge has ordered a Moundsville cigarette company to comply with state laws and pay at least $82,500 in annual state taxes it was fighting.

Compton Point, a store in Moundsville, sells empty paper cigarette tubes and loose tobacco and allows consumers to place the materials in a machine that rolls them into a product that can be smoked. Consumers save about $7 per carton in the process.
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One pile of tobacco is dry, cut into thin shreds like Parmesan cheese grated off a block. A darker pile to its right, moist to the touch, has a strong poignant smell and is cut like shredded cheddar cheese.
For a nonsmoker, recognizing the differences between pipe tobacco and roll-your-own cigarette tobacco would be a challenge. But for tobacco manufacturers, knowing the difference means paying almost ten times less in taxes. Ream more »

The proposed tax cut of 10 cents per pack of cigarettes will lead to an infusion of more hours for employees and new hires, the heads of the state lobbies for grocery and convenience stores said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, tobacco industry lobbyists have confirmed New Hampshire’s tax cut would be one of the first by any state in more than 40 years.
New Hampshire’s current cigarette tax of $1.78 is already by far the lowest in New England.
“Clearly there hasn’t been any cut in this tax anywhere in the recent history,” said John Dumais, president of the New Hampshire Retail Grocers. Ream more »

Despite a veto from the Governor, and a possible override shot down by the House, there’s still a chance the four cent tax on cigarettes could be permanent.

The author of the bill, Represenative Harold Ritchie of Bogalusa, is trying to merge it into Senate Bill 53. That’s a Governor backed constitutional ammendement that would bring more money to tops. That means you could decide what would happen to the tax in October.
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