Health officials are hoping that the large increase in tobacco taxes that goes into effect today could be the spark users need to help them kick the habit.Beginning today a 62 cents-per-pack federal tax increase — from 39 cents to $1.01 — will take effect.
The tax on smokeless tobacco also is increasing from 19.5 cents per pound to 50 cents.
Of course the reason it goes up is to help balance the budget, not actually to help people kick the habit.
I’m still, by the way, in favor of allowing employers to charge smokers more for health insurance. Make sense to me.
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I really don’t think people will quit smoking just because of a tax increase. Afterall, did people quit drinking during prohibition? Do people not smoke Cuban cigars?
Anyway, I do agree with allowing employers to charge smokers for health insurance. Here is where I will get some disagreements from people…I also believe that should be applied to obesity as well; and I have no problem with airlines charging obese people for two seats.
I, myself, enjoy smoking cigars on occasion. So long as they are good cigars. Cigarettes are disgusting though. So is obesity.
Is it illegal to import bulk tobacco from another state and sell it out of the trunk of my Pacifica?
Because crap like the begets black markets.
Or maybe you guys heard GA NORML is coming to town, and you are getting your ‘smoke taxes’ in line for the Big Changes™ coming.
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Erick, the State imposes a smokers’ fee on its State Employees health plan. I don’t smoke, but I think it’s an additional $15 per month? How bout Macon’s health plan? You could use the fee to fund the Halls of Fame
Yes, Rick, that is illegal.
In all probability, this tax increase is not so large as to create a black market.
Well, there already is a black market for cigarettes…just, not a very big one.
So when they don’t realize the increase in revenue that this tax is supposed to bring about what do they raise taxes on next?
Remember during the drought and we were being told to conserve, conserve, conserve? The net result of that was increases in our water rates to offset the loss of revenue.
This tax is supposed to go towards funding the expanded and unneeded expansion of the SCHIP program. I am sure somebody somewhere is sitting smugly patting themselves on the back for doing their part to reduce smoking in America or else they have moved on to champion the cap and trade policy on energy in Obama’s budget plan.
How much money did they set aside in the budget to go after clandestine tobacco plots?
seen,
That will actually be paid for by another targetted revenue program, “the super failure to yielder” legislation passed earlier. Next session, shortfalls will be made up for by a fix in the loophole that allows “super people who take too many items in the 15 item express laners” to get away with not paying for math books in schools.
Taxes are constitutionally required to raise revenue. If they are imposed to alter behavior, or punish a segment of the population, they are illegal, no? Therefore, this tax must be publicly stated as a revenue matter only. The numbers of smokers who quit clearly fall under the rule of unintended consequences…
Nevertheless, even legal purchases of smokes here would make a profit resold in some northeastern states where the tax per pack can exceed $3.00. Black markets are pure, open ones.
It is always said that guverment heavily subsidizes the tobacco farmers.
Roughly 100,ooo packs of cigarettes come from a single acre of tobacco.
Farmer’s GROSS per acre roughly $2000 to $2800 per acre, for planting, producing, harvesting, curing, and delivering an acre of tobacco.
Multiply the per pack tax each different level of guverment gets by 100,000 packs and you get different figures of $30,000, $100,000, up to 3 and 4 hundred thousand bucks per acre the GUVMNET gets from an acre of tobacco, simply from their virtue of being able to levy a tax.
So….who is subsidizing whom?????
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