Vast Differences in State Cigarette Taxes
For many non-smokers, state cigarette tax is seemingly a non factor. Many non-smokers don’t even know what the going price of cigarettes are. Why should they? They don’t buy them.
The price of cigarettes does affect non-smokers however. States with low cigarette taxes means Big Tobacco is getting a break in their state at their expense. It undoubtedly means that their tax money is footing some of the medical costs of smokers.
Smokers may moan and groan about it, but the tax on cigarettes should be high. While cigarette prices are fairly inelastic among smokers (similar to gasoline), it does discourage some smokers while providing additional tax revenues. These revenues can not only be used for the medical costs of smokers but also to fund/subsidize public works projects or cut taxes somewhere else.
The difference in state cigarette taxes is nothing short of shocking. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the state with the highest cigarette tax is New Jersey at $2.57 a pack. The state with the lowest cigarette tax is South Carolina at 7 cents a pack. Yes, you read right, 7 cents! It’s astounding and ridiculous.
Florida isn’t very brilliant either, coming in at 33.9 cents a pack. This ranks as the 44th lowest cigarette tax in the US. The Tampa Bay Times has written that new Republican Governor Charlie Christ should raise cigarette taxes to cut property taxes. Because of hurricanes and the rise of property value, both insurance and property taxes have increased to the point of putting a massive burden on many home owners.
Taxes have to come from somewhere and they should be coming from unhealthy luxuries like cigarettes. Some states have it right and some have it very wrong. Come on South Carolina and others, get your head out of the sand!
3 Comments
The constitution gave freedom of choice to it’s states and people. What makes you think that this issue should change that? Also, what research shows that smokers cost you more money in health care? They usually die and cause less money for nursing homes and elder care than non-smokers and claim less social security benefits. What about alcohol? Which kills many people also. More people drink then smoke. You would make more money by taxing alcohol so high that people stop doing it. But then who else would you want to take advantage of to carry the burden for the rest?You have forgotten that our country revolted against unfair taxation without representation to become the land of the free and the brave that it is today.
Disgruntled-Thanks for the comment and good points.
You’re right, many smokers die before elder care, but when they die younger due to smoking related illnesses, they usually don’t die that quick. Also, their early deaths prevent them from working longer and thus paying more taxes and offsetting some of that elder care cost.
I’m a smoker in a state where taxes on cigarettes are cheap: Florida. I used to live in Australia where cigarettes were much more expensive, thus I smoked less. Cheap cigarettes provide one less incentive to quit an unhealthy habit.
I agree that states rights are very important though as our large nation has very different values/philosophies on many issues.
you have no concept of the cigarette industry and how easy inner state buying is. you also have not done any research on what happened to canada’s cigarette industry once their government decided to raise taxes beyond belief.
what always holds true in economics, which you know very little of, is that if you raise taxes, you will ALWAYS get less revenue
do some research before posting idiotic blogs.