[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

You Know What Happens Next

Cash Jordan: Half-Built Tower Abandoned… as ICE Deports Entire ‘Migrant Workforce’

Heavy rainfall causes flash flooding Tuesday night, some cars stuck in high water on Chicago's West

Biden Doctor PLEADS THE FIFTH, Refuses To Testify To Congress, Biden Pardons ARE VOID

Joe Rogan says FBI director Kash Patel played him for a fool and maga for fools with the Jeff Epstein files

Elon's AI System "Grok" Went Rogue And Has Been SHUT DOWN in an Emergency!

Earthquake Swarms at One of the MOST DANGEROUS Volcanoes in the USA

Ben Shapiro Declares Epstein Case CLOSED: ‘Facts on the Ground Have Changed’

Iran receives 40 Chinese J10-C Fighter Jets

China’s Railgun Is Now Battle-Ready, Thanks to Nuclear Power

Chinese Hypersonic Advancements! Deadly new missile could decimate entire US fleet in 20 minutes

Iran Confirms Massive Chinese HQ 9 B Missile Deal

Why Is Europe Hitting 114°F And Still Rising?

The INCREDIBLE Impacts of Methylene Blue

The LARGEST Eruptions since the Merapi Disaster in 2010 at Lewotobi Laki Laki in Indonesia

Feds ARREST 11 Leftists For AMBUSH On ICE, 2 Cops Shot, Organized Terror Cell Targeted ICE In Texas

What is quantum computing?

12 Important Questions We Should Be Asking About The Cover Up The Truth About Jeffrey Epstein

TSA quietly scraps security check that every passenger dreads

Iran Receives Emergency Airlift of Chinese Air Defence Systems as Israel Considers New Attacks

Russia reportedly used its new, inexpensive Chernika kamikaze drone in the Ukraine

Iran's President Says the US Pledged Israel Wouldn't Attack During Previous Nuclear Negotiations

Will Japan's Rice Price Shock Lead To Government Collapse And Spark A Global Bond Crisis

Beware The 'Omniwar': Catherine Austin Fitts Fears 'Weaponization Of Everything'

Roger Stone: AG Pam Bondi Must Answer For 14 Terabytes Claim Of Child Torture Videos!

'Hit Us, Please' - America's Left Issues A 'Broken Arrow' Signal To Europe

Cash Jordan Trump Deports ‘Thousands of Migrants’ to Africa… on Purpose

Gunman Ambushes Border Patrol Agents In Texas Amid Anti-ICE Rhetoric From Democrats

Texas Flood

Why America Built A Forest From Canada To Texas


Miscellaneous
See other Miscellaneous Articles

Title: N.Y. Cigarette Tax Increase Boosts Pack to Almost $11
Source: bloomberg.com
URL Source: [None]
Published: Jul 1, 2010
Author: Chris Burritt
Post Date: 2010-07-01 16:59:00 by James Deffenbach
Keywords: None
Views: 447
Comments: 34

New York smokers started paying the highest cigarette taxes in the U.S. today after an increase of 58 percent pushed some prices to almost $11 a pack.

The average price in New York City, the largest in the U.S. by population, rose to $10.80, according to Erik Kriss, a spokesman for the state Division of Budget. Outside of the city, which imposes its own tax, the state average price is $8.92.

New York led Hawaii, New Mexico, South Carolina and Utah in raising cigarette taxes today. Health advocates cheered the increases as a means to reduce smoking. Tobacco producers and retailers said higher taxes encourage black-market sales and won’t generate anticipated revenue.

“A few people will quit smoking, but many more will quit coming to our stores and instead buy cigarettes from untaxed sources,” Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, said today by telephone from Albany. The group represents operators of 7,500 convenience stores.

New York lawmakers boosted the state’s portion of the tax to $5.85 a pack from $4.25 in New York City. Outside the city, the tax rose to $4.35 a pack from $2.75. The tax increase is projected to raise $290 million a year from cigarettes, snuff, cigars and other tobacco products. Collecting taxes on cigarette sales from Indian reservations would raise another $150 million.

‘Legal Addictions’

“It’s the state trying to get money from legal addictions,” said Joseph Bavaro, 21, who said he’s smoked for seven years. “It’s for the greater good, but it’s bad to take advantage of addicts.”

New York ranked 14th among U.S. states in pack sales of cigarettes last year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an advocacy group in Washington. New Yorkers bought 482.7 million packs, accounting for 2.9 percent of U.S. sales.

“I think it’s horrible,” said Randi Gelman, 44, a New York travel agent. “We know it’s bad for us. People are out of work, no jobs, now this? It’s not fair. This is just a way for the government to make back money from working people after years of stupid decisions.”

Nationwide, cigarette tax increases this year will spur more than 140,000 adults to quit smoking and raise more than $561 million in annual revenue, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“It’ll probably make me quit, I have to quit anyway, it’s just one more reason,” said Tom Tveter, 49, a salesman who lives in Rockland County, New York. He said he’s smoked for 16 years.

Internet, Reservation Sales

New York’s increase will prompt more smokers to buy over the Internet or from American Indian reservations and lower-tax states such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to Altria Group Inc. and Reynolds American Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco companies. They said demand may rise for cigarettes unlawfully purchased in states with lower taxes and sold on the black market in New York.

“It is going to drive people away from buying cigarettes where taxes are paid,” David Sutton, an Altria spokesman in Richmond, Virginia, said today. “The revenue projection will fall short.”

Starting Sept. 1, New York plans to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations to people who don’t live there. The state hasn’t tried to make the collections since the early 1990s.

The tax on other tobacco products, including cigars, loose tobacco and chewing tobacco, will rise to 75 percent of the wholesale price, from 46 percent of the wholesale price on Aug. 1, according to Kriss, the spokesman for the Division of Budget.

That boost, combined with an increase in the tax on snuff to $2 per ounce, from 96 cents per ounce, will generate an additional $30 million, he said.

“It’s not fair, but if it wasn’t this, it’d be something else,” said Richard Battle-Baxter, 28, who said he’s smoked for four years. “I’m not quitting because of this, though. I’ve got too much stress.”

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 8.

#1. To: James Deffenbach (#0)

Tobacco producers and retailers said higher taxes encourage black-market sales and won’t generate anticipated revenue.

This is true. It will also generate more violent crime as the stakes become larger. If you can bootleg in cigarettes purchased over the border for 2 bucks a pack and then sell them for 7 or 8 bucks a pack you can make a hundred G's a truckload. The state of course collects no tax. Also one will see an increase in the highjacking of trucks hauling cigarettes.

Punitive taxation is simply unjust regardless, and I would applaud the gallant black marketeers - if it wasn't for the likely increase in violence.

Original_Intent  posted on  2010-07-01   17:16:34 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: Original_Intent (#1)

Yes, government never seem to catch on about taxing things to the point of diminishing returns. But you can be sure that folks in the black market know all about it.

James Deffenbach  posted on  2010-07-01   17:56:23 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 8.

#11. To: James Deffenbach (#8)

Yes, government never seem to catch on about taxing things to the point of diminishing returns. But you can be sure that folks in the black market know all about it.

Don't think of it as black marketeering think of it as arbitrage. ;-)

Original_Intent  posted on  2010-07-01 18:00:28 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: James Deffenbach (#8)

folks in the black market

American heroes.

F.A. Hayek Fan  posted on  2010-07-01 18:01:14 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 8.

TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]