Tax on smokes jumping 70 cents Friday here in Ohio

[johnnie]

I went to by my bag of tobacco and there was a sign there that read "Price increase Friday, Buy now".
I asked the woman if it was going to effect the "roll your own" supplies and she said for now it is just cartons and packs. Then she said that even though her boss paid for all the taxes of every carton already, the state of Ohio is making her pay $7.00 a carton for whatever is on her shelf as of the 31st. It's about $50,000 she told me.
I know a lot of you are anti-smoking, but this is becoming ridiculous. I'm glad I roll my own now. I pay as much for a carton as this new increase is going to be added to a carton.

[Hugin]

1. Gotta make up for the "coin investment"... eh?

"But, the pension fund was just laying there."

[underpants]

2. Can't you just tell them you are from out of state?

Or do they need to see ID to prove it?

Apparently all my relatives in WV do their shopping in Ohio-no sales tax if you are from out of state.

[johnnie]

4. I've never have heard of that one n/t

[underpants]

5. They live near Huntington

They go across the river to shop for most everything or so I am told

[Beware the Beast Man]

3. Screw that.

Time to stock up on Nicorette.

[johnnie]

6. Roll your own

I pay $4.50 for a bag of tobacco and %1.60 for 200 tubes w/ filters. It take a bit of time, but I have saved close to $100 (if not more) in a little over a month.

[Beware the Beast Man]

7. I did that in college.

I actually acquired a taste for Drum tobacco after a while. I figure, if I have to consume that much time for a smoke, I might as well quit.

[johnnie]

8. Quiting is the best thing to do

I'm just not ready for that yet.

[youthere]

9. Well..

I am VERY anti smoking..but I agree. This IS ridiculous. I don't states proposing tax increases on snack chips/soda or alcohol-only cigarettes/tobacco (maybe they are..I just haven't heard of any).Why just tobacco? I read somewhere that the majority of smokers fall in the lower and middle income brackets-don't know if it's true, but if so, there are some interesting implications there.
But then again...maybe it will prompt some folks to quit? :evilgrin:

[johnnie]

10. I think it is prompting a lot of people to quit

I think quiting is the best thing, but as I said above..I am still not that ready for quiting just yet.

[billyskank]

14. Prompt some folks to quit? Probably not

As lawmakers know, tobacco is quite price/demand inelastic. Might have something to do with it being addictive, I wonder? :crazy: Lawmakers also know that, as you suspect, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to smoke. Furthermore, of smokers, the poorer you are, the more cigarettes you are likely to smoke. So hiking the tax on smokes hits the poorest, and elicits no squeaks from the rich. Even furthermore, there is a very loud anti-smoking lobby who sees smoking as immoral, so stonking a huge tax on smokes allows cynical governments to present themselves as caring and moral while actually not doing anything difficult. I despise it all, even now I have given up.

[Blue Diadem]

16. Ohio was going to tax beer..but decided against it and went for the

additional tax on cigarettes.

[asthmaticeog]

11. Oh, fucking FUCK!

I do not need this I do not need this I do NOT NEED THIS.

I need a smoke, actually...

[dolo amber]

12. They must've known

they were getting 2 new smokers as of Fri... :eyes:

Why oh WHY must I be such a trendsetter?? :cry:

[Dr.Phool]

13. Well, she's in luck

There is no 31st in June!

[johnnie]

15. LOL

Sorry. The 30th.

[Heidi]

17. How much does a pack of cigarettes cost in the US these days?

I know it varies from state to state, but on average?

[Misunderestimator]

19. One pack of the brand I USED to smoke is $4.25 to $4.50 in California

In Florida it was about $3.50. You can buy them online tax-free but SURPRISE.... you may get a certifed letter from your state tobacco agency telling you how much tax you owe and telling you that it's a crime not to pay. Just happened to me a few weeks ago. I owe Florida almost $200 in taxes that were not charged to me by the website where I ordered them. The real guilty party is the website, but they are apparently going after individuals now (and apparently that's a new thing... I found out when I spoke with someone at the agency, right before I sent them the check).

[johnnie]

21. Not only that

I have now heard that in many cases major credit card companies are not letting tobacco products transactions to go through. I posted it a few weeks ago.

[Misunderestimator]

23. That's interesting. Did they mention the "Jenkins" Act?

[johnnie]

29. No, I don't remember that

I can't remember the whole situation. I tried to click on a site to look at their tobacco products and they had some information about the credit card companies refusing transactions to tobacco sales.

[northzax]

22. not that I am encouraging this type of behaviour

since it is not legal to import more than one or two packs of cigarettes into most states, however, should you find a retailer willing to ship to an anonymous address, linked to a PO box registered under a false name, then you're fine.

of course, commiting two felonies is a lot to avoid paying .70, but what're you gonna do?

[RebelOne]

25. They average about $3.10 to $3.65 a pack

here in No. Georgia. That's for the name brands. You can buy off brands for $1.99 a pack.

[Heidi]

30. The price here . . .

in southern Switzerland is 6.10 Swiss francs for a pack of Winston 100s, or about $4.67 in US dollars.

[Spider Jerusalem]

33. I pay US $25.40 a carton for Camel Lights.

(I'm in Georgia)...hurrah for low taxes...

[northzax]

18. mail order

from the Reservation. no taxes at all...

[Misunderestimator]

20. See my post right above yours.... #19

The website I ordered from claimed to be run by an Indian tribe, but that didn't stop Florida from collecting taxes from me a year later.

[Strawman]

24. More regressive taxation

I dislike smoke and smoking, but it's a free country and this is nothing more than another way to nickle and dime the working class while cutting taxes for the rich. "Sin taxes" are horseshit. I wish everything was funded by progressive federal taxes. No more races to the bottom among states and localities and no more fleecing the middle class. Too bad it will never happen.

[youthere]

27. Exactly...

never heard of anyone proposing a "yacht club" tax or "country club" tax increase.

[WCGreen]

31. No man, they get tax cuts......

What country are you living in.....

[Magrittes Pipe]

26. Oh, fucking fuck on a fucking fuckstick.

Fuck.

[KT2000]

28. WA state - 60 cents on Friday

additional tax of 60 cents goes into effect on Friday.
Every session has a tax increase on cigarettes - too afraid to tax anyone else. Smokers are paying for schools with these taxes. Shouldn't that be something everyone is taxed for?

[WCGreen]

32. An Aside....

The money Ohio collected from their portion of the Tobacco settlement is helping defer the cost of my respitory rehab classes....

[the_spectator]

34. Road trip to Virginia!

Who's got a truck?

[obxhead]

35. sounds like a nice fresh

market is opening up.

[hfojvt]

36. "the old man grabbed me, he said:"

"hey, smoke up Johnnie." The Breakfast Club