Posted by gmichailovic at 11:51am Mar 24 '09With an already slumping economy, on April 1st American smokers will be a tad bit more strapped for cash when the federal tax increase on cigarettes becomes official (many of the companies have already raised prices substantially but not fully in preparation, so many smokers are already feeling some increase but not the full of it).
Beginning the first of April (Happy April Fools Day, smokers), the federal tax on cigarettes increases by 61 cents per pack. Coupled with the $0.39 federal tax already in place, the new tax on cigarettes will be $1 per pack. The reasoning behind this is that the increased federal revenue will be used to expand the federal CHIP program, improving health care to children living in poverty.
Smokers that buy their packs by the carton should expect to pay about $7 extra bucks per carton.
And you say you like to roll your own cigarettes, or prefer a pipe? I still cannot believe this, though every source indicates it is true. The federal tax on loose tobacco hiked 2000%. The federal tax on loose tobacco increased from $1.10 to $24.78 per pound. Where someone who rolled their own cigarettes used to pay $17-$22 per pound, they can now expect to pay around $45 bucks for the same pound.
What's worse is that, following suit of the federal government, many states are hiking their own state taxes on tobacco. For example, the governor of Michigan is attempting to double the state tax on loose tobacco. Remember how people might expect to pay $45 per pound of tobacco? The proposal in Michigan will be forcing smokers of Michigan to pay $60-70 for one pound of loose tobacco, which used to cost $20. Essentially, users will be paying more tax on the item than the item was originally worth prior to the tax increase.
The original intent, as many may recall, of these cigarette taxes were to fund smoking cessation and education programs. Yet many states are now cutting the funds from these programs, diverting them to funding the aforementioned children's healthcare program (or at least that is what an article I read led me to believe). So essentially what the government is doing is singling out a group of something like 20% of the American population, taking more money out of their pockets because they deem cigarettes as bad and are saying they hope that the increased prices will encourage people to quit, while simultaneously cutting the funding that goes to smoking cessation programs that help people quit when they finally decide to?
Assuming their goal of getting people to quit succeeds, from what source are they going to reallocate the funds to continue to fund the children healthcare program once all the excess money dries up because so many people either quit smoking, or even MORE likely, are now purchasing cigarettes off the internet tax free? Are they going to start taxing fast food because it only increases the national obesity rate? Who kills more people anyway, McDonald's or Marlboro? Is our government going to systematically tax everything they deem unhealthy until we fit their model image of health? At what point will the government realize they have no right to police our personal lives?
Never, I'm betting...
Beginning the first of April (Happy April Fools Day, smokers), the federal tax on cigarettes increases by 61 cents per pack. Coupled with the $0.39 federal tax already in place, the new tax on cigarettes will be $1 per pack. The reasoning behind this is that the increased federal revenue will be used to expand the federal CHIP program, improving health care to children living in poverty.
Smokers that buy their packs by the carton should expect to pay about $7 extra bucks per carton.
And you say you like to roll your own cigarettes, or prefer a pipe? I still cannot believe this, though every source indicates it is true. The federal tax on loose tobacco hiked 2000%. The federal tax on loose tobacco increased from $1.10 to $24.78 per pound. Where someone who rolled their own cigarettes used to pay $17-$22 per pound, they can now expect to pay around $45 bucks for the same pound.
What's worse is that, following suit of the federal government, many states are hiking their own state taxes on tobacco. For example, the governor of Michigan is attempting to double the state tax on loose tobacco. Remember how people might expect to pay $45 per pound of tobacco? The proposal in Michigan will be forcing smokers of Michigan to pay $60-70 for one pound of loose tobacco, which used to cost $20. Essentially, users will be paying more tax on the item than the item was originally worth prior to the tax increase.
The original intent, as many may recall, of these cigarette taxes were to fund smoking cessation and education programs. Yet many states are now cutting the funds from these programs, diverting them to funding the aforementioned children's healthcare program (or at least that is what an article I read led me to believe). So essentially what the government is doing is singling out a group of something like 20% of the American population, taking more money out of their pockets because they deem cigarettes as bad and are saying they hope that the increased prices will encourage people to quit, while simultaneously cutting the funding that goes to smoking cessation programs that help people quit when they finally decide to?
Assuming their goal of getting people to quit succeeds, from what source are they going to reallocate the funds to continue to fund the children healthcare program once all the excess money dries up because so many people either quit smoking, or even MORE likely, are now purchasing cigarettes off the internet tax free? Are they going to start taxing fast food because it only increases the national obesity rate? Who kills more people anyway, McDonald's or Marlboro? Is our government going to systematically tax everything they deem unhealthy until we fit their model image of health? At what point will the government realize they have no right to police our personal lives?
Never, I'm betting...
Lay off my cigs? - gmichailovic