The Heartland Institute

Wisconsin is considering a revenue neutral tax proposal that would change the tax structure for smokeless tobacco from an ad valorem tax to a weight-based tax. This would bring smokeless tobacco taxes in line with the way that other “sin” taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and gas are applied. In The Heartland Institute’s testimony ...

State Rep. Mark Mustio (R) has introduced a bill that would prevent Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board (LCB) from increasing handling “fees” on alcohol without prior approval from the legislature and governor. Pennsylvania is one of 19 states that give monopoly control over the sale and distribution of liquor to the state. Proponents ...

Louisiana is considering a proposal for a significant tax hike on cigarettes, smoking tobacco, and smokeless tobacco products. Advocates for raising the tobacco tax contend that having the nation’s third-lowest cigarette tax doesn’t do enough to curb the use of these products. Although a higher tax rate might encourage some Louisianans ...

Georgia is one of only three states that prohibit the retail sale of liquor, wine, and beer on Sundays. This limitation on consumer choice costs the state’s coffers millions of dollars in tax revenues every year. Sunday is now the second-busiest shopping day, and consumers who can do so migrate to other states to shop. With ...

Maryland is once again considering a “dime a drink” increase in the state’s alcohol taxes. Proponents say it will bring in $215 million toward reducing the state’s budget deficit. Maryland already has hiked taxes on tobacco products, businesses, and high-income earners, yet the state continues to struggle to balance its books ...

Idaho is expected to face a budget deficit in fiscal year 2012 of approximately $350 million. Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Dennis Lake (R-Blackfoot) says he wants to increase the state’s cigarette tax by more than $1.50 per pack to help generate more revenue. Unfortunately for advocates of targeted “sin ...

Georgia state Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) wants to raise the state’s cigarette tax by a dollar per pack in order to help close the state’s $1.5 billion budget deficit. Smokers aren’t the only ones who should be worried about cigarette taxes, because all taxpayers will inevitably be tapped as a result of excessive spending ...

States are increasingly looking to soda, candy, and other so-called “fat” taxes as a way to shore up their budgets. That’s happening despite a lack of evidence that these taxes have any significant effect on obesity rates, the usual rationale for these taxes. As happened previously with alcohol and tobacco, special-interest groups ...

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of a 50-cents-per-pack cigarette tax hike shows he understands such tax hikes are bad for the state’s economy and bad for all of the state’s taxpayers, not just those who smoke. Targeted tax hikes such as those placed on alcohol, tobacco, and other “sinful” products take more money from ...

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has proposed his fifth cigarette tax increase in five years. The 20 cents-per-pack increase would bring New Hampshire’s cigarette tax to $1.98 per pack, well above the national average. In a state that has historically celebrated its resistance to taxes, the governor and many legislators have ...

Gov. Mark Parkinson's recommendation to use a cigarette tax increase to help cover Kansas's $300 million budget deficit should be worrisome not only to smokers, but also to nonsmokers and legislators who want to be fiscally responsible. Tobacco tax hikes encourage cross-border shopping and other tax avoidance measures, and they ...

Tobacco tax hikes like the one being discussed in Utah should be recognized for what they are: unstable and regressive tax increases targeting a minority of citizens, fueling unsustainable government spending, all wrapped in one fiscally irresponsible package. Tobacco tax hikes have at least four fundamental flaws: (1) They are ...

Illinois' alcohol tax increases, which the legislature pushed through to fund a $31 billion capital works plan, are beginning to have their troubling consequences. Neighboring states have dramatically lower alcohol taxes, and a large share of Illinois' population lives near these lower-taxed states. That's creating economic and ...

Smokers have become a favorite target of many legislators across the country. Some policymakers seem to think taxing smokers is a win-win way to curb smoking and raise revenue, without hurting the economy. In practice, however, these taxes create more budget problems than they solve. As the tobacco tax revenue stream falls ...

More than 20 states are considering “sin taxes”—such as excise taxes on tobacco, beer, and spirits—in order to shore up their budget deficits. But such taxes are badly flawed and likely to do far more harm than good to a state’s economy. Sound tax policy adheres to four principles: * Taxes should be applied to a broad base ...

A 62-cent increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco products, intended to fund the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), goes into effect April 1. The joke will be on state budgets—and ultimately taxpayers—because tobacco taxes are not the revenue boon advocates claim them to be. In 2007, states ...

Proposals to increase the federal cigarette tax by 61 cents (156 percent), in order to pay for an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), are problematic. The program was established to ensure children from low-income families have health insurance. Expanding the program to include families making more ...

For years tobacco consumers have been flocking to Virginia to take advantage of the 30 cents-per-pack cigarette tax in order to avoid taxes in Maryland and Washington, DC, where the tax is currently $2.00 per pack. This week Gov. Tim Kaine proposed doubling Virginia’s cigarette tax to 60 cents per pack in an attempt to fill ...

Alcohol, beer, tobacco, and other items have become big targets of tax-hiking lawmakers in recent years. Such taxes are technically called excise taxes, but are more commonly called sin taxes because they apply to items or behaviors some people consider harmful or sinful. Why do lawmakers impose excise taxes despite their being ...