A bill in the Virginia House of Delegates could change the way premium cigars are taxed in the state. Rep. Hyland “Buddy” Fowler, R-Richmond, has introduced H.B. 1277, which would abandon the 10 percent wholesale tax currently imposed on premium cigars in favor of a new tax that would be at 6.25 percent of the price charged to the end consumer.

The change would almost certainly reduce prices, although it a rather minimal level. Using the most rudimentary of typical cigar store margins, a cigar carrying an msrp of $10 would be reduced by less than 40 cents.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.