Guam’s Governor Lou Leon Guerrero on Monday vetoed a bill that seeks a 10 percent tax on vaping and electronic nicotine products.
The governor stated that she does not object to taxing electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) to include vape products in her veto letter for Sen. Joe San Agustin’s Bill 193-37.
“It makes sense to implement a common-sense taxing structure on ENDS products,” she wrote.
The governor said the tax scheme in the bill would cause “unnecessary confusion and inefficiency.”
She said the tax would apply to retail sales of vaping and nicotine products, adding the cost directly to customer receipts in a way no other product on Guam is taxed, according to media reports.
Guam’s 2006 Tobacco Control Act already allows for vaping and nicotine products to be taxed at the same wholesale level as “electronic cigarettes,” the governor writes.
Leon Guerrero stated that senators should instead direct the Department of Revenue and Taxation to create rules for assessing the taxation of vaping and electronic nicotine products and extend existing tobacco taxes.
Guam law provides a sin tax of $4 per pack on cigarettes, though it’s unclear how the tobacco tax would be extended to vaping products.
A majority of 12 senators voted to pass Bill 193-37, enough to overcome the governor’s veto if support holds.