Lets talk about Cigar Taxes! Cigar smokers are in the minority, so it can be easy for the politicians to raise taxes on cigars. It’s critical for cigar smokers to make their voice heard. Every cigar smoker should join Cigar Rights of America. Today, we talk about the tax increase landscape. The Cigar Authority is a member of the United Podcast Network and is recorded live in front of a studio audience at Studio 21 […]
The House Ways & Means Democratic staff has begun circulating a list of priorities and revenue raisers for the “Human Infrastructure” bill that will be voted on in coming weeks through the reconciliation process that only requires a simple majority (51 votes) in the Senate. This is the first step in this process and unfortunately the committee’s priorities include a $96 billion tobacco tax increase that would likely include both premium cigars and pipe tobacco […]
Just a few months ago the state of the cigar industry in New Mexico looked like it was headed toward its demise. As the state proposed a tripling of the cigar taxes to 76% many cigar shops were worried they would be forced to shut their doors sending their customers to order cigars online. On the last day of legislative calendar the luck of the Irish shined down on Jack Sweeney, owner of a Santa […]
In Maryland Bill SB 826 has introduced by Republican Senator Andrew Serafini (District 2, Washington County) that would remove the tax on premium cigars. The synopsis of the bill states, “Exempting certain premium cigars that are to be sold in the State from the tobacco tax.” Currently the state sees cigars taxed at 15% of the wholesale price. A fiscal policy on the measure stated the state would lose 2.8 million in taxes if the tax […]
As the 2019 Legislative session was about to get underway, State Senator Cisco McSorely (D-Albuquerque) introduced bill that would dramatically raise the tobacco tax by 204%. Shortly after introducing the bill that would be catastrophic to retailers in New Mexico the Senator resigned his seat to take a job in the administration of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. The bill sat in the legislature without a sponsor and the hope that it would go away. However […]
A pair of bills have been introduced in the state of Hawaii that would limit the tax on cigars. The bills intoduced at the Hawaii State Legislature were in the House via HB 331 from Rep. Nadine K. Nakamura, (D-14) and in the Senate via SB 222 from Sen. Ronald D. Kouchi (D-8). The introduced bills would limit the tax on cigars to a 50 cent cap instead of the current 50% of the wholesale price. […]
The state of Nebraska currently has a tobacco tax of 20% on “cigars, cheroots, and stogie.” However, that could change thanks to Sen. Justin Wayne (D-13/Omaha), who introduced a bill that would amend the current tax to a 50 cent cap. The bill has been assigned to the Committee on Finance and can be read below. LB429 on Scribd
In 2015, a similar measure to raise the cigar tax in West Virginia failed. However, as we reported back in September the measure was expected to return in 2016. That time has come as Democrat Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has proposed raising the tobacco tax 42%. In his budget that was submitted to the state legislature, Tomblin called for raising the tobacco tax from 7% to 12%. If the legislature approves the budget, a cigar that has […]
We have seen states impose cigar taxes, counties impose cigar taxes and now Chicago wants to impose its own cigar tax under a plan from Mayor Rahm Emanuel. According to a published report from the Chicago Sun Times a $6 million dollar proposal for an orientation program for incoming high school students would be paid for by increasing the tobacco tax which would include a 90 cent tax on full-sized cigars. Since taking office in 2011, the […]
There are a handful of states where cigars aren’t tax and one of those states, Pennsylvania is in danger of falling by the wayside. Democrat Governor Tom Wolf’ in his proposed $30 billion state spending plan would tax cigars at 40% of the wholesale value. If the spending plan passes as is, it would go into effect on October 1st, and would result in Pennsylvania having a higher tax than its neighboring states. According to […]