Massachusetts CALL TO ACTION on e-cigarette tax bill

[JENerationX]

Let's make sure this thread stays bumped guys.

There is a very important call to action against a MA bill that will classify e-cigs as a smokeless tobacco product and start taxing products at 110% wholesale.

Click the link, read it, DO something about it...... then bump THIS thread so people see it.


http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...husetts-call-action-e-cigarette-tax-bill.html

 

[balbrt1]

bump up to top

 

[Placebo Effect]

Important note to those who don't follow legislation closely -- after 1,000+ comments were submitted in opposition to a Hawaii bill earlier this year that would've taxed e-cigarettes at 70%, a committee in the Hawaii Senate unanimously voted to kill the tax portion of the bill.

We can win this. We just need vapers to take a few minutes out of their schedule and get pleasant, well-reasoned letters into these reps.

 

[thinkingaboutit]

Can non-residents comment?

I didn't read more than the summary...but 110% tax? Yikes! Double price on anything...and other states WILL take notice of revenue...

 

[Renrav]

I know congressmen are more concerned about what their constituents have to say, so would it be worthwhile for me to write a letter even though I live nowhere near MA?

 

[Placebo Effect]

Yes, even letters from those out of state can be helpful. I would avoid writing very long letters, and definitely avoid saying anything that could be construed as hostile.

If you have purchased or considered purchasing from a Massachusetts-based vendor, a strong argument is that with 49 states intelligently not taxing e-cigarettes, there is no way you'd continue to buy from or choose to buy from a Massachusetts vendor if this tax went through.

 

[DC2]

Anybody know which vendors are in Massachusetts?

 

[Placebo Effect]

Anybody know which vendors are in Massachusetts?

Safer Vapors (Webster) and Eastern Vapor (Saugus) are the only ones I know of that sell online.

 

[iamtumus]

aw man. i stop at safer vapors every time I'm on my way up to see my mom.
letter time!

 

[Kemosabe]

i live extremely close to MA (RI) and our legislation tends to follow theirs in many aspects. we cant have this thing snowball. no way no how. i gotta write something to them.

 

[JENerationX]

Bumpity time. I definitely wouldn't be able to buy from either vendor if cost of goods doubled.

 

[OldDragon]

Would this cause the vendors to drop sales to anyone in a taxing state? How would vendors even keep track if each state had their own taxes? I know amazon charges me tax for each time I buy something, but they are a large company and have enough people to research rates and send taxes to the state.
And who will say what a item within that state is worth? 30ml for .01 or 20.00? Battery at mall price or china price? The idea has a lot of holes in it. The main thing would for other states not to follow a taxing leader.

 

[neogolie]

Mass is a joke. They will tax everything they can. This will over price a product that could help people quite smoking and they want to ruin it. Like so many other things in this state.

The money never goes to anything other than the politicians paychecks and life salaries.

 

[JENerationX]

Would this cause the vendors to drop sales to anyone in a taxing state? How would vendors even keep track if each state had their own taxes? I know amazon charges me tax for each time I buy something, but they are a large company and have enough people to research rates and send taxes to the state.
And who will say what a item within that state is worth? 30ml for .01 or 20.00? Battery at mall price or china price? The idea has a lot of holes in it. The main thing would for other states not to follow a taxing leader.

Yes, it could. Years ago I could order cigs online, and then NYS raised taxes and we could still order online. The burden was on the resident if they got caught buying online from oout of state. Then they started going after the vendors for it, and many stopped selling to NYS residents. Then they banned the internet sales of cigs to NY altogether and EVERYWHERE stopped selling tobacco products to NYS residents online.

 

[purelyscientific]

BUMP! Will they be taxing no-nic juice as well as the PV's they're used in?

 

[SissySpike]

I sent an email to all legislatures on link list this please everyone do the same!

 

[Fiamma]

This proposal needs to be defeated. When one state gets this passed the rest of the states, seeing the tax potential, will vote in the same law. Hawaii was defeated soundly by many of us emailing or sending written testimony to the hearing which they solicited. They, at least, did not try to do this in the dark of night out behind the barn.

Hawaii vapers had a huge incentive to be heard. They have vape shops there, they have a major seller there in Volcanoecigs which provides jobs and Volcanoecigs itself would have been priced out of business as vapers there would go to the online sellers in the face of a 70% increase in cost to them in Hawaii.

Massachussetts is in an area where there are a lot of busybodies trying to stamp out vaping with laws, restrictions and taxes. This was recently defeated in NY State, which has some large vendor and online retailers, it can be defeated in MA.

Write letters, send email, call the members of the committee. If they are presented with large numbers of dissenters who are polite, tell their stories of how they managed to quit smoking and live healthier lives, they might take a step back to consider what might happen to them politically if they pursue this folly.

Per the heading in the bill this is to benefit active and retired PUBIC EMPLOYEES who need smoking cessation help. They get that benefit from the monies from the federal settlement with the tobacco corps, so why do they need to tax vapers out of vaping and retailers out of business in MA?

Get busy ECF members and write to the list provided in the CASAA call to action. Today it's Massachussets, tomorrow it could be YOUR state.

 

[Placebo Effect]

Mass is a joke. They will tax everything they can. This will over price a product that could help people quite smoking and they want to ruin it. Like so many other things in this state.

The money never goes to anything other than the politicians paychecks and life salaries.

Have you sent a letter? I understand why you're jaded, but please send in a letter and make clear that are you from MA by including your address.

 

[Kopfstimmen]

Just sent this via email... Remember, don't just cut and paste. Make it personal...
To whom it may concern:

I oppose H.4291 because it would redefine the definition of "smokeless tobacco" to include new life-saving products such as smoke-free electronic cigarettes. I quit smoking 6 days ago with the help of e-cigarettes, and with a bill such as this, it would make others less likely to quit smoking.

The purpose of increasing cigarette taxes has been to cover healthcare expenditures caused by smoking and to discourage smoking. Since electronic cigarettes and e-liquid products are 98-99% less hazardous than cigarettes, there is no fiscal or public health justification for such a hefty tax.

This bill also would tax "any component, part, or accessory" of e-cigarettes (e.g. hardware, batteries, rechargers, etc.), regardless of whether it contains nicotine. This would be the unfair equivalent of taxing items such as matches, cigarette lighters, ashtrays, etc. at the same rate as cigarettes.

Since many e-cigarette sales are made online, enactment of this legislation would devastate brick-and-mortar e-cigarette retailers in MA and destroy e-cigarette companies in MA, as they could no longer compete against out-of-state and international online suppliers.

Thank you,
K. T.

 

[JENerationX]

Great points KT!