In January 2019 a bill was proposed in the New Hampshire Legislature by Representative Timothy Horrigan (D-Strafford) that sought to create a tax on premium cigars at the rate of 65.03 percent of the wholesale price. On the morning of February 27, 2019 a voice vote was held in the New Hampshire Senate where House Bill 438 was defeated 293-58. All 53 votes in favor of the tax were made by Democrat. A full list of […]
The state of Oregon saw the introduction of bill HB 2158 which would remove the tax cap on cigars. Currently cigars are taxed at 65% of the wholesale price with a 50 cent cap. The new measure which had its first reading removes the cap and places the tax at 65% of the wholesale price. The bill currently had it’s first reading on January 14th, and it currently sits on the Speakers desk awaiting referral. […]
Earlier this year, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin proposed raising the tobacco tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products which includes cigars. Today a third reading by the West Virginia House of Delegates is scheduled to for today’s budget session which is now on its seventh day. Each day the session costs tax payers $35,000. The bill which saw the language to strip taxes on e-cigarettes and vapor liquid from the proposal on Monday […]
In January, the state of New Jersey saw the proposal of a bill that would raise the taxes on cigars to be on par with the state tax rate on cigarettes. This week that proposal went in front of the State Assembly on Health committee where it passed by a measure of 10-1. A1815 which would raise the tobacco tax from 30% to 90% in the state still needs to pass the full Assembly, Senate and […]
Each Friday we take a look at new legislation on a local or state level.. This is what is happening this week…. Alaska – Governor Bill Walker has introduced HB304 that would raise the tobacco tax within the state. The current tax is 75% of the wholesale price and the new proposal would change it to 100% of the wholesale cost. Currently a cigar that has an MSRP of $10.00 in the state costs $13.75, under the […]
Things could get ugly in the state of New Jersey if S284 gets passed. The bill sponsored by Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) and Loretta Weinber (D-Bergen) calls for the raising of the OTP tax which includes cigars from 30% to 90% of the wholesale price. Meaning a cigar with the MSRP of $10.00 that currently costs $11.50 in the state would go up to $14.50 per cigar. In addition to hurting the consumer, the bill would be crippling […]
For the third time in the last three years, Republican Nebraska State Senator Mike Gloor of Grand Island is seeking a tobacco tax increase that would raise the cigar tax 55%. The Bill, LB1013 would raise the tax on cigars and other tobacco products (OTP) from 20% of the wholesale cost to 31%. The change would raise a cigar that has a MSRP of $10.00 that currently costs $11.00 to $11.55. The money that is […]
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 […]
In 2015 as reported by The Cigar Authority the state of West Virginia had two proposals to raise the OTP tax which affects how cigars are taxed. The initial proposal suggested a raise from 7% to 10.5%. However, in late February bi-partisan bill H.B. 2953 was introduced that suggested taxing OTP products at the rate of 39 percent. The 2015 yearly session closed with the tobacco tax not seeing a vote and now a published report by […]
This one is almost too insane to be true, as the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association has filed an initiative to raise tobacco taxes that include a 50% increase on other tobacco products (cigars). The measure comes from a group that once fought to keep the state’s tax as one of the lowest in the nation. The measure which comes in less than other proposals recently filed with the state. If passed one […]