Nevada 50 Cent Cigar Tax Cap Bill Introduced

A new bill introduced last week in the state of Nevada would reduce the taxes paid on most cigars sold in Nevada.

Rep. Brian Hibbetts, R-Las Vegas, and Rep. Duy Nguyen, D-Las Vegas, have introduced A.B. 232 which would introduce a 50-cent tax cap for premium cigars in Nevada. Currently, all cigars pay the state’s OTP tax rate, 30 percent of their wholesale price. This bill would keep the 30 percent tax rate but limit the total tobacco taxes paid to no more than 50 cents if a cigar is designated as a “premium cigar.”

That means a cigar with an MSRP of $9.50 likely pays $1.43 in tobacco taxes.  If A.B. 232 were passed, that amount would be reduced to 50 cents. If the bill were to pass, consumers could see savings between 93 cents and $1.85 for a cigar with an MSRP of $9.50 depending on how retailers calculate their margins. The savings would be more significant the more expensive a cigar is; the tax cap would not affect cigars with MSRPs below $3.34.

Interestingly, A.B. 232 defines a “premium cigar” as “a cigar that is rolled by hand, has a wrapper made of whole tobacco leaves and does not have a filter or mouthpiece.” This is a broader definition than the one oftentimes referenced and would mean that large flavored cigars like ACID and Tatiana would be eligible for the tax cap, as would many of the cigars that J.C. Newman makes at its El Reloj factory in Tampa, which the company describes as being made by vintage machines.

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 handle the editing of our written content, the majority of the technical aspects of the site and work with the rest of our staff on content management, business development and more. I’ve lived in most corners of the country and now entering my second stint in Dallas, Texas. I enjoy boxing, headphones, the Le Mans 24-hour, wearing sweatshirts year-round and gyros. echte liebe.