Monday, September 24 2007
By Rich Perelman (CigarCyclopedia.com)
Los Angeles – With the House Democratic leadership moving towards the Senate's version of a bill to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the impact on the entire tobacco industry could be devastating.
If passed by the Congress and approved by President George W. Bush – who is promising a veto – the Senate's provisions to tax tobacco products to pay for this program would include, according to a table furnished by the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, the following:
• Cigarette taxes to go from 39 cents per pack today to $1.00 per pack, an increase of 256%.
• Large Cigar taxes to go from 20.719% of the manufacturer's price with a cap of 4.875 cents per cigar to 53.13% of the manufacturer's price (+ 256%) with a cap of $3.00 per cigar (a 6,154% increase).
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