Cigarette Tax Hike Huge

This one had me rolling on the floor. The Tulsa Word reports: The prices of some name-brand smokes have risen ahead of the federal tax increase. Tobacco products to go up April 1.

Cigarettes

"For tobacco users, smokers who roll their own will take the hardest hit. The tax on that type of tobacco will skyrocket more than 20-fold, from about $1.10 per pound to $24.78 per pound. Taxes on cigarette papers and tubes are also going up — from 1 cent per 50 for papers to 3 cents, and from 2 cents per 50 for tubes to 6 cents. Industry sources say the increases will virtually eliminate the financial advantage of rolling cigarettes instead of buying manufactured smokes."

MORE TAX ON TOBACCO

(courtesy of the Tulsa World)

Current tax	Tax as of April 1
Cigarettes $0.39/pack	$1.01/pack
Small cigars $1.83/1,000	$50.33/1,000
Large cigars 20.8% of price	52.8% of price
Chewing tobacco $0.20/pound	$0.50/pound
Snuff 56 cents/pound	$1.51/pound
Pipe tobacco $1.10/pound	$2.83/pound
Roll-your-own $1.10/pound	$24.78/pound
Cigarette papers $0.01/50	$0.03/50
Cigarette tubes $0.02/50	$0.06/50

That's some price hike! According to this article, some major brand cigarettes have already had a price increase. The plan was to raise prices early to cover the taxes manufacturers must pay on their floor inventory as of April 1. One convenience store said the early price hike prevented customers from stockpiling at the cheaper price. Wouldn't you know, this is a very deal in every state. Now, am I crass to suggest that the majority of smokers cannot afford to smoke? Is it unreasonable to think that the majority of smokers are Democrats and voted for Obama? Do you think the Fed's motive is to discourage smoking? Yeah, right. That's why I was rolling on the floor, laughing. How about higher tariffs, too?