It comes as no surprise: New Yorkers are going to Pennsylvania to by tobacco products. Why? Well, it could have something to do with the recent tax increase. Pennsylvania, essentially, is gaining the tax revenue that New York hoped to generate for itself. The number of cigarette tax stamps New York sold in July fell [...]
Continue reading about Proof: New York Tobacco Tax Drives Customers across State Lines
Yet another editorial in Pennsylvania laments the fact that a tobacco tax isn’t being used to protect jobs. The number of potential state layoffs has fallen from 1,000 to 200, but this protectionist measure doesn’t seem to be enough, as the writer asks, “Why are we even talking about layoffs?” Here’s the problem: taxing cigars [...]
Continue reading about More Flawed Begging for Pennsylvania Tobacco Tax
The New York Association of Convenience Stores reports that cigarette sales by its members fell 25 percent to 35 percent last month. Does this means that people are quitting? Or, more realistically, is it because people are going across state lines, where the taxes aren’t severe? Let’s do the math on this one. There are [...]
Continue reading about New York Cigarette Sales off by a Third
The cuffs are coming out. Working together, state and federal authorities have brought the hammer down on a “big non-cigarette tobacco ring” that allegedly skipped out on $35 million in California excise taxes. The investigation took three years and resulted in 15 arrests, not to mention the indictments of three businesses, according to LA Weekly.
Continue reading about Busted! Califoria Tobacco Ring Nailed for $35m in Excise Taxes
There still could be an $850 million gap in the Pennsylvania budget, and lawmakers are looking for a way to plug it. Governor Ed Rendell is using the threat of layoffs, which could reach 700, if the money isn’t found, giving him an easy platform from which to push other taxes, including one on cigars [...]
Continue reading about Pennsylvania Eyes Tobacco in Budget Debate
It would be a mistake to ignore the little guy. In Iowa, smaller, filtered cigars – which look like cigarettes – are providing a bit of tax relief to smokers who have seen their spending creep necessarily higher. They don’t taste like cigarettes, but at prices much lower than traditional cigarettes, these products are becoming [...]
Continue reading about Iowa Cigarette Smokers Turning to Little Cigars
The number of Iowa businesses seeking cigar and other tobacco permits has plunged in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control division. From 5,500 retail permits in the state in 2003 and 2004, the tobacco tax and smoking ban pushed the number down by approximately a third.
Continue reading about Cigar Sales: Small Businesses Suffer in Iowa
July 1, 2010, a new cigarette tax hike took effect in New York and just after a few weeks it looks like it is proving to be more troublesome than politicians thought. Now with smokers crossing state lines to pick up smokes and illegal smuggling operations it looks as if they are weighting their options. [...]
Continue reading about New York’s Cigarette Tax Hike Looking Like a Loss
Because of the 75 percent OTP tax that takes effect August 1, 2010, many tobacconists from New York aren’t making the trek out to New Orleans this year. A source close to the market tells me that the New York cigar shops are focused on buying as much product as they can in July, particularly [...]
Continue reading about EXCLUSIVE: New York Tobacconists Bailing on IPCPR Show
When scanning the cigar-related headlines this morning, I stumbled into a PennLive.com op-ed piece with a wonderfully inflammatory headline: “Pa. backroom deals aid Big Tobacco, harm regular folks.” Unfortunately, the piece consists of nothing but misinformation and flawed assumptions about the cigar industry, cigar taxation and the impact of both on Pennsylvania’s budget. It’s time [...]
Continue reading about Stop the Lies: Cigar Taxes Would Not Have Helped Pennsylvania
