Many states are racing to pass budgets, emergency COVID-19 supplemental appropriations, and other must-pass legislation as quickly as possible. We’re tracking the latest state legislative responses to the coronavirus crisis.
66 min read
Fewer people driving means fewer people buying gasoline, which may have positive effects on air pollution but could be detrimental to motor fuel excise tax revenue for federal and state governments.
4 min read
States will have to consider the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their excise tax revenues, including from gas taxes, tobacco taxes, and alcohol taxes.
7 min read
While lawmakers are working through the design of vapor tax proposals, they must thread the needle between protecting adult smokers’ ability to switch and barring minors’ access to nicotine products. A good first step is creating appropriate definitions for the new nicotine products to avoid unintended disproportionate taxation based on design differences or bundling.
7 min read
One notable consequence of high state tobacco excise tax rates is increased smuggling as people procure discounted products from low-tax states and sell them in high-tax states. Smugglers wouldn’t have to look far to find cheaper smokes. All of Maryland’s neighboring states have rates lower than $4 per pack, including Virginia ($1.20) and West Virginia ($0.30). Such an increase would impact the many small business owners operating vape shops around the state and convenience stores relying heavily on vapers as well as tobacco sales.
7 min read
OECD countries have on average become more reliant on consumption taxes and less reliant on individual income taxes. These policy changes matter, considering that consumption-based taxes raise revenue with less economic damage and distortionary effects than taxes on income.
13 min read
Our updated 2020 edition of 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.
1 min read
The prospect of a ban on flavored tobacco and nicotine products highlights the complications of contradictory tax and regulatory policy, the instability of excise taxes that go beyond pricing in the cost of externalities, and the public risks of driving consumers into the black market through excessive taxation or regulation.
6 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
