Tag: vape tax

  • Vape Tax, Tobacco 21 Clears Alaska Senate, Heads to House

    Vape Tax, Tobacco 21 Clears Alaska Senate, Heads to House

    Credit: Yossarian6

    The Alaska Senate on Wednesday evening passed a bill that would raise the legal age to buy and sell vaping and other tobacco products from 19 to 21. It would also impose the first statewide tax on vaping.

    If the bill passes through the Alaska House of Representatives, e-cigarettes or vapes would be taxed at 45 percent of their wholesale price, according to Alaska’s News Source. The Senate passed SB 45 on a 15-4 vote. All four of the “no” votes were by Republicans.

    There would be some exceptions under the new bill if it becomes law. Alaskans who are 19 and older who currently sell tobacco products would be grandfathered into the new age limits. Tobacco cessation devices that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration would not incur the new tax rate for e-cigarettes.

    SB 45 also toughens up age-verification requirements for sellers of tobacco while cutting the fine on violations for underage smokers from a maximum of $500 to $300.

    In 2019, former President Donald Trump signed a bill into law that raised the federal age to consume tobacco products to 21. Alaska is currently one of 12 states that have not made the same shift in state law.

    The legislative session must end by May 18.

  • Canada Proposes First Federal Nicotine-Only Vape Tax

    Canada Proposes First Federal Nicotine-Only Vape Tax

    The Canadian government has proposed the country’s first federal vape tax, which would take effect Oct. 1 if passed, according to Vaping360.

    The tax applies only to nicotine-containing products, including pod-style and cartridge-style refills, disposable vapes and bottled e-liquids as well as nicotine base for DIY liquids. It does not apply to hardware that is sold without e-liquids. The tax also includes an option for Canadian provinces to add on their own, equally large, taxes.

    Vaping products would see a tax of CAD1 ($0.97) per 2 mL for the first 10 mL of e-liquid in any sealed container and $1 per 10 mL for additional liquid in the same container. Sealed pods would be taxed separately at a minimum of $1 per pod.

    Retailers would have until Jan. 1, 2023, to sell any untaxed stock they still have on Oct. 1 when the law would go into effect.

    The tax is awaiting a vote by Parliament’s House of Commons, which is expected to take place either at the end of April or beginning of May.

  • Mississippi State Senator Files Bill to Tax Vapor Products

    Mississippi State Senator Files Bill to Tax Vapor Products

    Credit: Andrii Yalanskyi

    Mississippi State Senator Davis Blount filed Senate Bill 2062, which would tax e-cigarettes and vaping products. The Northside Sun reported the bill calls for the same 15 percent excise tax as cigarettes.

    “I continue to believe that electronic cigarettes and vaping products ought to be taxed at the same rate as regular cigarettes,” Blount told the Northside Sun. “There are different ways of taxing these products since some of them are in liquid form. I’m open to any way that works, but the simplest way is to just tax them like a pack of cigarettes based on their retail price.”

    Two years ago, Blount authored a similar bill that was approved by the Finance Committee for a floor vote, where it missed the three-fifths majority for passage by one vote. A three-fifths majority is required on any tax-related issue, according to Senate rules.

    Blount has gone for a more simplistic approach in this year’s bill. Instead of a 5 cent levy on every liquid milliliter of nicotine like in his previous bill, e-cigarettes would be taxed at the same 15 percent rate as conventional cigarettes.

    According to the state Department of Revenue, Mississippi’s tobacco tax generated $145 million in revenue in fiscal 2021, which ended June 30.

  • 25% Wholesale Vapor Tax Clears Indiana Senate Hurdle

    25% Wholesale Vapor Tax Clears Indiana Senate Hurdle

    A bill in Indiana that will bring new taxes on vaping as well as a broad framework for disbursing future opioid litigation settlement cash is expected to be signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb, today. It’s Indiana’s first-ever tax on e-cigarettes.

    Credit: Adobe Stock / Luzitanija

     

    The tax, which will take effect July 1, 2022, is split between wholesale and retail, with closed-system products like prefilled pods assessed 25 percent of the wholesale cost, and open-system products like bottled e-liquid being taxed at 15 percent of the retail price (a sales tax).

    A previous version proposed a 10 cent-per-milliliter tax on vaping fluid and an additional 10 percent percent excise tax on e-cigarettes and vaping products.

    Health advocates say the plan meets their goal of a tax rate comparable to the rate on traditional
    cigarettes, according to wibc.com. Indiana State Medical Association president Roberto Darroca says doctors are
    particularly concerned about discouraging teenagers from taking up vaping so they don’t get a
    taste for nicotine and move on to traditional cigarettes.