HARRISBURG,
Pa. (WHTM) –Inside Smokes 2 Go tobacco shop on Jonestown road, you can
purchase a pack of Newport cigarettes for $6.40.
“It was like 20 cents a pack when I started,” Carol Mohler, said. She has smoked nearly two packs a day for the past thirty years. “I kept wanting to quit every time it would jump but because of the addiction and the habit I haven’t been able to.”
But now she said she has to. Starting Monday, all of the cigarette price tags in Smokes 2 Go will have to go. The State’s new budget kicks in, raising the price of each pack of cigarettes by one dollar.
“It’s a big jump. It’s too much too fast,” Stacy Knaub said.
The new budget sets the per-pack tax at $2.60. Lawmakers hope it will balance the State’s budget, bringing in $430 million dollars.
“It’s already too expensive. So I’m trying to do the e-cigarettes,” Knaub said.
But the vaping industry is also about to get smoked. The new budget sets a 40 percent tax on the wholesale price of e-cigarettes and vaping products.
“Every bottle of e-liquid or every device that gets sold to them, they’ll be charged that 40 percent tax on top of the six percent sales tax that they’re currently paying,” Charles Huff, owner of Eve Vape, a vaping business, said.
Huff said the 40 percent tax isn’t going to be the big issue; it’s the 40 percent floor tax he’s worried about.
“My biggest fear is that I will be forced to close my business and completely get out of the vaping industry,” Huff said.
Business owners and smokers alike tell us it’s not fair. Some won’t be able to afford it at all.
“Some people are saying they would like to quit or they will move on to cheaper brands,” Jaget Patel, owner of Smokes 2 Go, said.
“My goal is to quit smoking. I won’t pay those prices. I’ll make this last forever and give it away or sell it,” Knaub said.
The 40 percent tax on e-cigarettes and vaping products won’t go into effect until October 1st. Cigars will remain tax-free.
“It was like 20 cents a pack when I started,” Carol Mohler, said. She has smoked nearly two packs a day for the past thirty years. “I kept wanting to quit every time it would jump but because of the addiction and the habit I haven’t been able to.”
But now she said she has to. Starting Monday, all of the cigarette price tags in Smokes 2 Go will have to go. The State’s new budget kicks in, raising the price of each pack of cigarettes by one dollar.
“It’s a big jump. It’s too much too fast,” Stacy Knaub said.
The new budget sets the per-pack tax at $2.60. Lawmakers hope it will balance the State’s budget, bringing in $430 million dollars.
“It’s already too expensive. So I’m trying to do the e-cigarettes,” Knaub said.
But the vaping industry is also about to get smoked. The new budget sets a 40 percent tax on the wholesale price of e-cigarettes and vaping products.
“Every bottle of e-liquid or every device that gets sold to them, they’ll be charged that 40 percent tax on top of the six percent sales tax that they’re currently paying,” Charles Huff, owner of Eve Vape, a vaping business, said.
Huff said the 40 percent tax isn’t going to be the big issue; it’s the 40 percent floor tax he’s worried about.
“My biggest fear is that I will be forced to close my business and completely get out of the vaping industry,” Huff said.
Business owners and smokers alike tell us it’s not fair. Some won’t be able to afford it at all.
“Some people are saying they would like to quit or they will move on to cheaper brands,” Jaget Patel, owner of Smokes 2 Go, said.
“My goal is to quit smoking. I won’t pay those prices. I’ll make this last forever and give it away or sell it,” Knaub said.
The 40 percent tax on e-cigarettes and vaping products won’t go into effect until October 1st. Cigars will remain tax-free.
Resource : http://abc27.com/2016/08/01/cigarette-tax-increases-monday/
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