Smokefree PA urges General Assembly to hike cigarette tax, but to NOT tax vapor or smokeless

[retired1]

Instead of taxing vape products they should save that money by laying off public health employees. The world would be a better place.

Not as good as if all the politicians and lawyers were done away with.

 

[Verb]

I get the "licensed distributor" now. I was thinking there are no approved distributors for the products we use. But, then I remembered, Big tobacco ecigs. Guessing...That's all they plan to make available.

 

[rothenbj]

Growth industry wiped out. More on the unemployment lines, but BT and BG will be happy.

 

[Rossum]

The floor tax will close many shops within the next two weeks.

Owning a (non vape-related) PA-based business and having dealt with the PA Dept of Revenue on occasion, I'll say that's probably not the case. If a business owes them money, they'll almost always offer a payment plan. They do this because they know they have a much better chance of collecting if the business stays open than if they kill it.

In a case like this where the new "floor tax" came out of the blue, I'm confident that they will do so universally, without even being asked. So in and of itself, the floor tax shouldn't result in many closures.

 

[choochoogranny]

I would be closing my shop just because I don't like being robbed......even by my government.

 

[Rossum]

I would be closing my shop just because I don't like being robbed......even by my government.

I can certainly understand that point of view. IMO, robbery by the government is morally MORE reprehensible than robbery by common criminals. After all, the common criminal has to risk his own life and freedom to do what he does, while the politicians who rob us sit safe and sound behind fancy desks protected by armed guards; they have no skin in the game at all. The worst that will happen to them is that they won't get re-elected, in which case they'll just go back to a private law practice or become a lobbyist.

Yet if I personally owned a vape shop, I'd have to weigh that against the good I could do my customers by remaining open for a while longer while paying the state its tribute.

 

[Buster282]

Wow.. just Wow.. Glad I don't live in Pa.

 

[Rossum]

Wow.. just Wow.. Glad I don't live in Pa.

Technically, I do live in PA, although I also spend a good bit of time elsewhere. Stuff like this can and probably will happen in other places. In fact, PA isn't the first. The states resent the fact that millions of us have found an untaxed substitute for smoking. It affects two revenue streams for them; the excise taxes they're no longer getting (almost $3k from me alone since I quit smoking) and the corresponding MSA payments, which are based on annual cigarette sales in each state. I'm thinking the notion of taxing vape stuff will spread like wildfire once our vapes are officially tobacco products on August 8th.

Personally, I'm glad I'm prepared.

 

[TotlKaos]

Funny after reading all the discussion.. I see people saying tax this tax that.. how about the government of PA reduce spending and use the present tax income as is? I know this is a far fetched idea to most politicians.. but this is what needs to start happening.. I live in NJ were it cost $2 Million to build a mile of road. That is 3-4 times higher than the next expensive state. The politicians wanted to jack up the gas tax 23 cents a gallon.. but yet when someone asked if we could see why the roads were costing so much to build we were called nut jobs! Just my 2 cents..

 

[Rossum]

how about the government of PA reduce spending and use the present tax income as is? I know this is a far fetched idea to most politicians..

Yep. Even to my State Representative, who is a Republican. I've written to her repeatedly, and she often answers herself. Here's her latest e-mailed "newsletter":

There is some good news to report out of Harrisburg this week, as the 2016-17 state budget and all of the bills associated with it are DONE (unlike last year’s protracted impasse) and in the end, we were able to balance the budget without any broad-based income or sales tax hikes.

The $31.63 billion budget includes a spending increase of about $1.6 billion, or 5 percent, over last year. The vast majority of those additional costs are mandated spending for things like health care, human services and pensions. As a result, the Commonwealth needed to raise more than $1.28 billion in new revenue to ensure the budget balances, as is required by the state Constitution.

Some of that revenue will come from non-tax sources, such as the wine and liquor modernization plan already signed into law by the governor, expanded gaming options and a tax amnesty program. Additional revenue will come from increased tobacco taxes, applying the sales tax to digital downloads, and increases in the bank shares and table games taxes.

While this is not the budget I would write if it was entirely up to me, it is a reasonable compromise that supports our schools, public safety, and health and human services without substantially increasing the burden on taxpayers. The budget package passed the House with bipartisan support.

 

[Painter_]

Allegheny County Health Board is now looking to restrict usage by rolling them into the Clean Air regulations. Allegheny County Health Board OKs proposed restrictions on e-cigarettes

 

[Bill Godshall]

‘Sorry about the death’: Should Pa. Balance its budget off smokers trying to quit?
'Sorry about the death': Should Pa. balance its budget off smokers trying to quit?

This is a truly excellent article. Unfortunately we needed it before last week's 40% vapor tax was enacted.