ironpeddler
Ye Old Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2008
- Messages
- 6,660
Unbelievable....did you guys see this?
Congress Daily reported that Democratic legislators are considered a new bill to change the taxes on smaller cigars to the same level as cigarettes.
That’s because a number of manufacturers have increased the weight on what used to be known as “little cigars” – with the same dimensions as cigarettes – above the Federal standard of three pounds per 1,000 units, and are thus classified as “large cigars” and taxed that way.
Most of the little-cigar brands have traditionally come in packs of 20, just like cigarettes, and the tax on that classification was changed from four cents per pack to $1.01 per pack, the same as cigarettes (that’s about 5.1 cents apiece) by the SCHIP bill approved in February 2009. While most premium smokers are familiar with the tax cap of 40.26 cents per cigar, the actual cigar tax rate is 52.75% of the wholesale sales price. Since most cigarillos are sold in packs of five or tins of 10, the total Federal tax on that pack is less than on a pack of cigarettes (or little cigars).
The issue is currently with the Senate Finance Committee and any change in the tax rates will cause considerable confusion. Taxing little cigars that were the same size and used the same packaging sizes as cigarettes is fairly easy, but new regulations would inevitably have to get into new classifications that might have to consider price as well as size, as weight would group together the popular, machine-made Black & Mild line and Davidoff’s handmade Ambassadrice!
In a not-widely-noted development, Democratic Congressmen Steve Cohen (Tennessee) and Lloyd Doggett (Texas) introduced the “Tobacco Tax Parity Act” in January to increase the Federal taxes on pipe tobacco from the current $2.83 per pound (up from $1.10 before the SCHIP bill) to the same rate as roll-your-own tobacco of $24.78!
This would supposedly close a “loophole” created by the re-labeling of some roll-your-own tobacco as “pipe tobacco” and getting an 88% break on the new taxes. At the same time, however, it will increase the Federal tax of a 100-gram tin of high-quality pipe tobacco from 62 cents today to $5.42!
This really could be the beginning of the end for pipe smoking, as the pipe lobby is even much smaller than the already modestly-sized cigar lobby. The bill (H.R. 4439) currently sits in the House Ways and Means Committee.
So, some bulk RYO cigarette tobacco manufacturers started relabeling cigarette tobacco "pipe tobacco' to circumvent the heavy taxes? They grabbed one year of additional sales while effectively killing off another tobacco pastime! I hope someone comes to their senses here and just make them label their product correctly before the pipe smokers get f*cked for no reason. These politicians look for any reason to........never mind, if I continue, I'll get banned...by the Federal Government.
Congress Daily reported that Democratic legislators are considered a new bill to change the taxes on smaller cigars to the same level as cigarettes.
That’s because a number of manufacturers have increased the weight on what used to be known as “little cigars” – with the same dimensions as cigarettes – above the Federal standard of three pounds per 1,000 units, and are thus classified as “large cigars” and taxed that way.
Most of the little-cigar brands have traditionally come in packs of 20, just like cigarettes, and the tax on that classification was changed from four cents per pack to $1.01 per pack, the same as cigarettes (that’s about 5.1 cents apiece) by the SCHIP bill approved in February 2009. While most premium smokers are familiar with the tax cap of 40.26 cents per cigar, the actual cigar tax rate is 52.75% of the wholesale sales price. Since most cigarillos are sold in packs of five or tins of 10, the total Federal tax on that pack is less than on a pack of cigarettes (or little cigars).
The issue is currently with the Senate Finance Committee and any change in the tax rates will cause considerable confusion. Taxing little cigars that were the same size and used the same packaging sizes as cigarettes is fairly easy, but new regulations would inevitably have to get into new classifications that might have to consider price as well as size, as weight would group together the popular, machine-made Black & Mild line and Davidoff’s handmade Ambassadrice!
In a not-widely-noted development, Democratic Congressmen Steve Cohen (Tennessee) and Lloyd Doggett (Texas) introduced the “Tobacco Tax Parity Act” in January to increase the Federal taxes on pipe tobacco from the current $2.83 per pound (up from $1.10 before the SCHIP bill) to the same rate as roll-your-own tobacco of $24.78!
This would supposedly close a “loophole” created by the re-labeling of some roll-your-own tobacco as “pipe tobacco” and getting an 88% break on the new taxes. At the same time, however, it will increase the Federal tax of a 100-gram tin of high-quality pipe tobacco from 62 cents today to $5.42!
This really could be the beginning of the end for pipe smoking, as the pipe lobby is even much smaller than the already modestly-sized cigar lobby. The bill (H.R. 4439) currently sits in the House Ways and Means Committee.
So, some bulk RYO cigarette tobacco manufacturers started relabeling cigarette tobacco "pipe tobacco' to circumvent the heavy taxes? They grabbed one year of additional sales while effectively killing off another tobacco pastime! I hope someone comes to their senses here and just make them label their product correctly before the pipe smokers get f*cked for no reason. These politicians look for any reason to........never mind, if I continue, I'll get banned...by the Federal Government.
