CAPITOL $1.60 cigarette tax hike in next state spending bill BY MICHAEL GORMLEY The Associated Press
New York plans a $1.60 increase per pack in the cigarette tax, making it the nation’s highest, as well as a long-delayed plan to crack down on the sale of cigarettes by tribes to non-Indians, according to a bill Gov. David Paterson’s administration announced late Friday. The plan also includes raising the tax on chewing tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products. The tax would increase to 75 percent of the wholesale price of those products, from 46 percent now. New York state Budget Director Robert Megna said specifics are still being negotiated with legislative leaders and tribes in New York, but higher tobacco taxes will be part of an emergency spending bill Monday. “Raising the tax, combined with the decision to collect the tax on Indian sales, together is probably the most important public health measure this state has taken in many years,” said Russ Sciandra, director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, a coalition of health groups. Peter Slocum of the American Cancer Society called the tax plan “one of the most important public health measures of our time.” But Paterson ventures into potentially dangerous territory in trying to tax sovereign tribes. ..............>>>>.......................>>>>.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01902&AppName=1
I have an idea instead of raising the tax on tobacco again let's cut the pay of each and everyone in Congress including all the lulu's, per diem, and any other expense that they pass on to the taxpayer for failure to do the right thing and cut expenses and balance the budget.
Yet they won't put another penny on a bottle of beer, wine or alcohol. NY really is a forward thinking state.
What excuse will they use THIS time - can't be health care, Obama is saving us all at the federal level. Can't be safer roads (look at all the DWI's). What WILL they come up with.
Taxing 'one group is not constitutional!! And the tax on cigarettes is suppose to go to funding health care. How do they expect to do thaqt when they tax the hell out of the same thing that is funding a program? Hence, more people quitting or buying out of state?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
And although I think smoking sucks, explain to us exactly how this state, who is supposedly using the tax revenues to pay for health care, how they are going to pay for it when people start quitting? Brilliant!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
MYFOXNY.COM - Almost $11 for a pack of cigarettes? It might soon become a very real reality in many stores in New York City.
The cigarette tax in New York would jump $1.60 a pack under a tentative deal struck between Governor David Paterson and state government leaders.
The proposal is part of an emergency budget bill which is due for a vote on Monday.
In the city, which levies steep taxes of its own on tobacco products, a pack of cigarettes would come with a tax of $5.85, making it the nation's first city to break $5.
The Paterson administration hopes the proposal would generate $440 million in revenue this year, which would be a help close the state budget gap which is estimated to be over $9 billion. Despite the dire budget situation there is no guarantee that the emergency bill will pass after Republicans threatened to vote against a bill that includes tax increases.
By at least one estimate, half the cigarettes consumed in New York are purchased from Native Americans who don't collect and pay state taxes. A new proposal would attempt to limit the number of cigarettes purchased from tribes.
I went to stewarts today for milk and the guy in front of me got a pack of cigarettes. The cashier told him that as of july 1, cigs will goup $2 a pack. I wonder how the tax will impact cigars.
Is it a 'cigarette' tax or a 'tobacco product' tax?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York State Senate has passed their version of the latest budget extender, by a vote of 33-28.
Included with the extender bill were new taxes targeting tobacco. The most notable being an additional $1.60 per pack tax on cigarettes sold in New York State and the implementation of tax collection on cigarettes sold on Native American Reservations.
Several Senators expressed frustration over the bill, saying they disagreed with the inclusion of collecting cigarette taxes from Native American reservations but had no choice to vote for the bill in order to keep New York State running.
The $1.60 goes into effect July 1. A tax increase on cigars, snuff and other tobacco products begins August 1, and the taxes on Native American reservations begins September 1
The state is in a sorry fi nancial situation. One would have to assume it is from all the careless waste and spending. Whatever, we need a quick fi x. Taxing cigarettes and violating Indian treaties is not the solution. Didn’t we learn anything from Prohibition and history? There could be many criminal reactions from this brainy idea. And then there will be more problems to solve — more policing, more court proceedings and more people in prison, costing the state even more. If I were the state, I would start a new lottery game — and not one with the odds of winning equal to getting struck by lightning twice while vacationing in Siberia. They should call this one the “Get Out of the Hole” game: Players should pick fi ve numbers, say, from 1 to 30. The Lottery draws 10 numbers. The odds of lots of people winning smaller amounts would be pretty good; I’d be happy to win a couple hundred dollars for a dollar, and so would many others. Winnings under $2,500 should be taxfree. The state could split the pot 50-50 with the game. Proceeds could be split as follows: 50 percent divided among all five-number holders, 25 percent for four numbers, 15 percent for three and 10 per cent for two. Lawmakers need to get creative and stop harassing smokers and Indians, and raising taxes to balance their spending!
The tobacco tax is increasing... I can't wait until the tobacco tax finally equals the cost that ALL New Yorkers pay for smokers tobacco addiction.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
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