State Cigarette Excise Taxes: 2010 

Page last reviewed and updated July 1, 2010

 Cigarette excise tax increases effective July 1, 2010: Hawaii, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina and Utah.

 
Cigarette Excise Tax Facts

• The federal cigarette excise tax increased to $1.00 on April 1, 2009.
• At least twenty-four states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Washington use cigarette excise tax revenue to fund their tobacco control programs.
• Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
• The U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention estimates that smoking-caused health costs total $7.18 per packed sold and consumed in the United States.
• According to the CDC, cigarette smoking was estimated to be responsible for $193 billion in annual health-related economic losses in the United States ($96 billion in direct cost and $97 billion in lost productivity).
• Adolescents and young adults are more responsive than adults to changes in cigarette prices.
• Increasing a cigarette excise tax can result in stockpiling of cigarettes prior to the implementation of the tax and a temporary drop in sales immediately following the tax increase.

Sources:
The American Lung  Association. "SLATI Database". State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues: 2010.
Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Fact Sheet: Economic Facts about U.S. Tobacco Use and Tobacco Production. Updated May 2009.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fact Sheet: Fast Facts. Updated September 2009.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General. Updated 2000.
Federation of Tax Administrators, State Excise Tax Rates on Cigarettes. March 2010

NCSL. Health Care Provider, Industry and Tobacco Taxes and Fees.

Legislators and Legislative Staff click here to obtain more information on this topic.

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