Wyoming Cigar Shops Lose Fight for Lower Taxes

When SF0042 was introduced last September, the bill’s original text made three changes to Wyoming’s laws regarding cigar taxes:

1. Define “premium cigar”
2. Limit the taxes on “premium cigars” to no more than 30 cents per cigar
3. Allow cigar stores to pay excise taxes when the cigars are sold to consumers instead of when the stores buy the cigars from  a supplier

While the tax cap cleared the Wyoming Senate, it ran into issues in the House. In February, the tax cap was stripped from the bill and replaced with a reduction in the tax rate, but the bill that Gov. Mark Gordon signed into law last week doesn’t even include that change.

By the end, the only change that SF0042 makes is the third one: retailers may now pay the state’s excise tax on cigars and other tobacco products once the products have been sold to consumers. Previously, those taxes were due based on when the retailer purchased the products from a supplier.

The state’s excise tax on cigars remains unchanged—30 percent of the wholesale price of a cigar with no cap.