West Virginia Tobacco Tax Increase Defated

An attempt to raise the taxes on tobacco products in West Virginia was defeated today.

The House Finance Committee failed to advance SB 420, a bill that would have raised taxes on cigars from 7 to 12 percent of the wholesale price. In addition, the bill would have raised the taxes on cigarettes from 55 cents to $1.55 per pack.

House Finance snuffs out cigarette tax increase (SB420), leaving $170 mil hole in budget, with no options to fill it.

— Phil Kabler (@PhilKabler) March 3, 2016

The bill was proposed in order to help a close a $384 million budget deficit. While the bill has died for now, the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) has warned that it could come back after the state’s primary in May.

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.