Puff, just like that, cigar tax break is gone

Thursday, April 10 2008

ALBANY - If you've been puffing lower-taxed "little cigars" to escape the high taxes on cigarettes, your savings are about to go up in smoke.

As part of the new state budget, the little cigars - which look just like cigarettes, except they are wrapped in brown paper that is partly made from tobacco - will be classified as cigarettes in New York starting June 3.

That's the same day the state tax on a pack of cigarettes shoots up to $2.75, from $1.50 - making New York's levy on cigarettes the highest in the nation.
Story continues at nydailynews.com...