Thursday, February 18 2010
From: Chris McCalla, Legislative Dir. - IPCPR
Utah's State Legislature is currently working on several proposals that call for an increase in the state's tobacco excise taxes, including the excise tax paid on
cigars, pipe tobacco, and other tobacco products. The two bills, House Bill 196 and Senate Bill 40, propose tax increases on all tobacco products, specifically, an increase to the Other Tobacco Products (OTP) excise tax that is levied on cigars and smoking tobacco. HB196 proposes an increase from the current OTP excise tax rate of 35% to 66% and SB40 proposes an increase to 88%.
Additionally, HB196 proposes the OTP excise to be reviewed and modified on an annual basis based on the 44 states that tax OTP at an ad valorem rate (percentage of cost).
The Cigar Association of America (CAA)'s lobbyists are actively working with other tobacco industry representatives to defeat the proposed bills. The IPCPR has initiated a Legislative Action Alert for all in-state retailers and consumers to voice their opposition to HB196 and SB88 (that link is provided below).
As information and details become available, we will release updates on these tax increase bills.
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For more information on tobacco tax legislation in your state, please visit IPCPR.org.
