Tobacco is the most highly taxed consumer product in the United States. The tools on this page allow you to explore state tax rates and the effects tax policy and tobacco regulations can have on state revenues, smuggling, and effective tax rates for different income groups.
2 min read
The excise tax family is growing. Over the last decade, several products have become subject to excise taxes or are in the process of becoming so. Given this development, it is more crucial than ever that lawmakers, businesses, and consumers understand the possibilities and, more importantly, limitations of excise tax application.
77 min read
This web tool allows taxpayers to see how cigarette tax revenues have changed since 1955. Across almost all states, a clear pattern of volatility emerges. Tax rate hikes are met with a momentary bump in revenue, followed by a falloff.
2 min read
New nicotine products, along with a greater consciousness about the dangers of smoking, have prompted millions to give up smoking. This has contributed to federal and state excise tax collections on tobacco products declining since 2010. Our new report outlines the best way to tax nicotine products based on health outcomes and revenue stability.
49 min read
People respond to incentives. As tax rates increase or products are banned from sale, consumers and producers search for ways around these penalties and restrictions.
19 min read
Several states are considering introducing or increasing taxes on vapor products to make up declining tax revenue from traditional tobacco products or to fill budget holes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. However, lawmakers should approach the issue carefully because flawed excise tax design on vapor products could drive consumers back to more harmful combustible products like cigarettes.
3 min read
The mix of tax sources states choose can have important implications for both revenue stability and economic growth, and the many variations across states are indicative of the different ways states weigh competing policy goals.
29 min read
The FDA’s proposal to ban flavored cigars would carry significant revenue implications for many state governments.
7 min read
New Jersey lawmakers should be weary of flavor bans after seeing the results in Massachusetts.
3 min read
If the policy goal of taxing cigarettes is to encourage cessation, vapor taxation must be considered a part of that policy design.
4 min read
Although the majority of state tax changes take effect at the start of the calendar year, some are implemented at the beginning of the fiscal year. Fourteen states have notable tax changes taking effect on July 1.
7 min read
Ireland and France levy the highest excise duties on cigarettes in the EU, at €8.85 ($10.47) and €6.88 ($8.13) per 20-cigarette pack, respectively.
3 min read
Learn more about the FDA’s proposal to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. Including its effect on revenue & public health measures.
4 min read
Lawmakers in Colorado, and in the several other states considering flavor bans, should think twice before following in the footsteps of Massachusetts. A statewide ban on flavored tobacco products is more than likely to costs millions of dollars, increase smuggling, and have a negligible effect on public health.
5 min read
Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
2 min read
The FDA’s expected announcement of a national ban on menthol-flavored cigarettes and cigars with a characterizing flavor would carry significant revenue implications for both the federal government and state governments, with likely limited benefits in smoking cessation.
6 min read
A recent JAMA Internal Medicine study on the impact of the Massachusetts flavored tobacco ban indicates that it has been a success. Unfortunately, it left out a very important piece of information: cross-border trade.
4 min read
More than 300 billion cigarettes are sold each year in Indonesia—making it the world’s second-largest cigarette market to China. As such, it is important how Indonesia taxes tobacco products.
4 min read
Maine’s proposal to increase tobacco and vapor taxes has at least four major issues: flawed revenue allocation, risk of increased smuggling, regressivity, and violation of the harm reduction principle.
4 min read
Lawmakers in Washington need not revisit their vapor tax. The current tax is levied at an appropriate level and it has the right tax base.
3 min read
A proposal to introduce a wholesale tax on vapor products in Alaska could make switching from combustible tobacco products very expensive for smokers.
4 min read
Indonesia, the world’s second-largest cigarette market, has a uniquely complex system when it comes to taxing its tobacco consumption, which is almost exclusively cigarettes (98 percent).
4 min read
The nicotine tax proposal in the Build Back Better Act neglects sound excise tax policy design and by doing so risks harming public health. Lawmakers should reconsider this approach to nicotine taxation.
8 min read
In an effort to raise roughly $100 billion, the House proposal would double cigarette taxes and increase all other tobacco and nicotine taxes to comparable rates—a strategy with severe unintended consequences.
5 min read
The potential federal tax increase of over 1,600 percent on dipping tobacco as a result of the House Democrats’ proposal could result in state taxes and retail prices increasing by more than 50 percent in certain states.
4 min read