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
Taxation plays a key role in driving illicit trade. People respond to incentives, and sizable price markups for legal cigarettes create incentives for tax avoidance.
4 min read
At least 32 notable tax policy changes recently took effect across 18 states, including alterations to income taxes, payroll taxes, sales and use taxes, property taxes, and excise taxes. See if your state tax code changed.
16 min read
As fiscal year 2023 draws to a close, North Carolina’s House and Senate have each passed their own versions of the biennial budget for fiscal years 2024-25. While legislative leaders have generally agreed to overall spending levels, negotiations remain ongoing to resolve different approaches to tax policy.
7 min read
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
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
The tax base around the world is shrinking for traditional excise taxes, including taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and motor fuel. But newer excise taxes on things like carbon, cannabis, and ride-sharing are on the rise. What makes a good design for these taxes and where may excise taxes go in the future as the traditional “sin tax” base continues to shrink?
When designed well, excise taxes discourage the consumption of products that create external harm and generate revenue for funding services that ameliorate social costs. The effectiveness of excise tax policy depends on the appropriate selection of the tax base and tax rate, as well as the efficient use of revenues.
83 min read
Younger and healthier Brits have created a $17.1 billion budget hole by smoking and drinking less. Yet, despite this resounding piece of positive news, some see any decline in tax revenues as a public finance crisis. Excise taxes target a tax base that is intended to shrink. Less consumption is a stated goal of the policy.
3 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
Vermont lawmakers must weigh the potential benefits of cessation for some smokers against increased smuggling (and related criminal activity), and a loss of tax revenue not commensurate with a decline in smoking.
6 min read
California is losing tax revenue while consumers turn to cross-border purchases or, often, illicit trade of flavored cigarettes, which makes everyone worse off.
4 min read
Earlier this month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) proposed increasing the state’s cigarette tax rate by $1.00 a pack, banning the sale of flavored vaping products, and ceasing the sale of all flavored tobacco products. If enacted, these policies would fuel black markets and create a fiscal hole for the state to fill, all while hurting New York businesses and consumers.
4 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
Later this week, the European Union is expected to release a new Tobacco Tax Directive, the first update in more than a decade. Early reports indicate that the EU will propose a significant increase to the existing minimum cigarette tax rates levied across the Union and expand the product categories that are taxed, including a block-wide vaping tax.
7 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