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Feds fear cigarette tax may fuel acts of terrorism
The Argus ^
| March 11, 2005
| Steve Geissinger
Posted on 03/12/2005 8:23:15 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
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To: borntobeagle
Kentucky Information
Read more Kentucky News from Google News.
Forces Kentucky. New web site with a forum!
Kentucky Rights:
A public yahoo group for anyone who wants to talk about the Kentucky ban situation.
To reach any and all Kentucky senators and reps there is a toll free number: 1-800-372-7181. You can leave messages of support for bills or whatever for as many as you want.
Terry Gray
2004 candidate for House of Representatives.
Terry Gray, president of FORCES Kentucky, video online debating Smoking Bans.
Read Terry Gray at The Jefferson Review.
Tobacco Taxes
Kentucky's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.030 Kentucky's excise tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2002: $17,145,000
Sales tax on tobacco products: 6.00%
Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39 Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2002: $7,512,700,000
Click here for the Cigarette Tax and Payment Table for all states.
|
|
Comparing Excise Taxes on Cigarettes, Beer and Wine
click for larger view
|
Number of six-packs of beer that must be sold in Kentucky to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 6.7 |
click for larger view
|
Number of bottles of wine that must be sold in Kentucky to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 3 |
Kentucky Smokers' Contributions
to the State Economy - 2003
Kentucky smokers comprise only 32.6%
1 of the adult population in the state. Here is what they
already pay because they choose to buy a legal product:
Smokers Pay Excise Taxes2 |
$ |
21,436,000 |
Smokers Pay Sales Taxes2 |
$ |
114,324,000 |
Smokers Pay Tobacco Settlement Payments3 |
$ |
258,879,000 |
|
$ |
394,639,000 |
Smokers' Economic/Tax Profile 2002
Kentucky smokers' median income |
$ |
28,000 |
Kentucky nonsmokers' median income |
$ |
$39,752 |
- Working families pay more1
- 46% of Kentucky smokers had household incomes LESS THAN $25,000
- 7% of Kentucky smokers had household incomes EQUAL TO or GREATER THAN $75,000
The impact of smoker payments on the incomes of working families was more than THREE TIMES the impact on higher income smokers. Those who can afford it least pay a disproportionate percentage of their hard-earned income in smoker payments.
- Smoker excise tax/sales tax/tobacco settlement payments liability in 20024
Total average paid per Kentucky smoker in excise and sales taxes |
$ |
137 |
Cost per Kentucky smoker for settlement payments to Kentucky |
$ |
260 |
Total annual payments to Kentucky per smoker |
$ |
397 |
Total annual payments to Kentucky per nonsmoker |
$ |
0 |
Kentucky Smoker Facts5
- Total FY2003 smokers' payments to Kentucky were:
- More than five times as large as state excise taxes on alcoholic beverages in 2003 ($75.7 million).
- Almost three times as large as FY2003 coal severance tax revenues ($141.7 million).
- Larger than FY2003 corporate income taxes ($278.1 million).
- Larger than FY2003 motor vehicles usage tax revenues ($389 million).
- More than twice as large as FY2003 Kentucky lottery revenues ($171 million).
- The total amount paid by smokers in Kentucky would have covered FY2003 expenditures for:
- Parks ($76.4 million) -AND- Pupil Transportation ($202.2 million) -AND- Workplace Standards ($96.3 million)
-OR- - Environmental Protection ($57.3 million) -AND- Public Health ($235.2 million) -AND- Children with Special Health Care Needs ($54.3 million)
-OR- - Mental Health/Mental Retardation ($378.7 million)
-OR- - The Kentucky Community and Technical College System ($383.6 million)
TOTAL SMOKER CIGARETTE PAYMENTS TO KENTUCKY |
|
Per year: |
$ |
394,639,000 |
Per day: |
$ |
1,080,463 |
Per hour: |
$ |
45,019 |
Per minute: |
$ |
750 |
Per second: |
$ |
13 |
|
CIGARETTES DON'T PAY TAXES -
KENTUCKY SMOKERS DO!!
1Centers for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002
2Orzechowski & Walker, Arlington, Virginia; from state revenue department.
3PriceWaterhouseCooper
4U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 state population and Centers for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Surveillance System, 2002
5Tax comparisons are from Kentucky Office of the State Budget Director, Fourth Quarter, 2003 Quarterly Economic and Revenue Report, online at http://www.osbd.state.ky.us/publications/4thQTR-FY03.pdf. Budget comparisons are from the Kentucky Office of the State Budget Director, 2004-2006 Budget of the Commonwealth: Historical Data, online at http://www.osbd.state.ky.us/publications.htm.Click here to read the rest
21
posted on
03/13/2005 6:19:11 AM PST
by
SheLion
(The America we once knew and loved ........................is gone.)
To: kingattax
Thanks for the ping!!!
22
posted on
03/13/2005 6:21:19 AM PST
by
SheLion
(The America we once knew and loved ........................is gone.)
To: henderson field
The states desperately need money because, at the same time that they continue to spend at an irresponsible level, revenues are down due to offshoring: they used to enjoy taxes from production line workers at $25 an hour; now they are getting taxes from fast-food workers at $7 an hour. Big difference.Maybe where you live, but definitely not here. You cannot 'offshore' farm or oilfield labor. It has to be here in the first place.
So that excuse to keep taxing more instead of spending less just won't wash.
23
posted on
03/13/2005 6:22:09 AM PST
by
Smokin' Joe
(I work with computers too much to let one run my car!)
To: SheLion
Instead, states should equalize their tobacco taxes NO, NO, and NO!
This amounts to price fixing. Why should North Dakotans have to pay the same tax as New Yorkers? Screw that!
Rein in your legislatures!
24
posted on
03/13/2005 6:25:29 AM PST
by
Smokin' Joe
(I work with computers too much to let one run my car!)
To: Smokin' Joe
North Dakota Information
Tobacco Taxes
North Dakota's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.440 North Dakota's excise tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2002: $19,118,000
Sales tax on tobacco products: 5.00%
Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39 Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2002: $7,512,700,000
Click here for the Cigarette Tax and Payment Table for all states.
|
|
Comparing Excise Taxes on Cigarettes, Beer and Wine
click for larger view
|
Number of six-packs of beer that must be sold in North Dakota to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 48.9 |
click for larger view
|
Number of bottles of wine that must be sold in North Dakota to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 44.4 |
North Dakota Smokers' Contributions
to the State Economy - 2002
North Dakota smokers comprise only 22.1%1 of the adult population in the state. Here is what they already pay because they choose to buy a legal product:
Smokers Pay Excise Taxes2 |
$ |
19,117,534 |
Smokers Pay Sales Taxes2 |
$ |
8,689,789 |
Smokers Pay Tobacco Settlement Payments3 |
$ |
23,162,587 |
|
$ |
50,969,910 |
Smokers' Economic/Tax Profile
North Dakota smokers' median household income 2001 |
$ |
30,550 |
North Dakota nonsmokers' median household income 2001 |
$ |
38,199 |
- Working Families Pay More1
41.3% of ND smokers had household income LESS than $25,000
6.8% of ND smokers had household income EQUAL to or GREATER THAN $75,000
The impact of smoker payments on the incomes of working families was more than THREE TIMES the impact on higher income smokers. Those who can afford it least pay a disproportionate percentage of their hard-earned income in smoker payments.
- Smoker Excise Tax/Sales Tax/Tobacco Settlement Payments Liability4
Total average paid per North Dakota smoker in excise and sales taxes |
$ |
261 |
Cost per North Dakota smoker for settlement payments to North Dakota |
$ |
246 |
Total annual payment to North Dakota per smoker |
$ |
507 |
Total annual payment to North Dakota per nonsmoker |
$ |
0 |
North Dakota Smoker Facts 5
- Total smokers' payments to North Dakota were:
- Eleven times as large as excise taxes on alcoholic beverages in FY2001 ($4.9 million).
- More than ten times as large as death and gift tax revenues ($5.1 million) in FY2001.
- Nearly as large (85%) as FY2001 corporate income taxes ($63.4 million).
- The total amount paid by smokers in North Dakota could cover the 2001-2003 biennium general fund appropriations for:
- Bismark State, AND Lake Region State AND Williston State Colleges AND the North Dakota State College of Science ($53.6 million) COMBINED
OR - The University of North Dakota Medical Center ($30 million) AND the North Dakota Department of Health ($14.8 million) COMBINED
- In 1997, smokers provided 1,639 jobs that paid an additional $1.2 million to the state in personal and corporate income taxes.6
TOTAL SMOKER CIGARETTE PAYMENTS TO NORTH DAKOTA |
|
Per year: |
$ |
50,969,910 |
Per day: |
$ |
139,548 |
Per hour: |
$ |
5,815 |
Per minute: |
$ |
97 |
Per second: |
$ |
2 |
|
CIGARETTES DON'T PAY TAXES -
NORTH DAKOTA SMOKERS DO!!
click here to read the rest
25
posted on
03/13/2005 6:33:44 AM PST
by
SheLion
(The America we once knew and loved ........................is gone.)
To: SheLion
WOW! Thank you for the information and the informative link!
We know we are already getting screwed. I pay more for car insurance than a non-smoking drinker who has had no DUIs and I don't drink. There is no way any of this is equitable.
That said, there is no way charging say...2.40 a pack state tax (like NJ) is going to make it any more fair, and if the taxes were equalized, you can bet your last butt in the pack that they would all normalize around the current maximum. (What legislature could resist the windfall?--the antis would be screaming for it in the streets!)
26
posted on
03/13/2005 7:04:07 AM PST
by
Smokin' Joe
(I work with computers too much to let one run my car!)
To: Smokin' Joe
That said, there is no way charging say...2.40 a pack state tax (like NJ) is going to make it any more fair, and if the taxes were equalized, you can bet your last butt in the pack that they would all normalize around the current maximum. (What legislature could resist the windfall?--the antis would be screaming for it in the streets!)I'm glad you can use the link!! Bookmark it. :)
Well, our glutton lawmakers need to hear from us. We are sick and tired of being blamed for everything because we smoke and we are sick and tired of carrying the state budgets on our backs. It has to end.
Black market? Terrorists? Well, if each state would treat their constituents fair that smoke a legal product, none of this would have happened. The lawmakers screwed us, and we turned around and screwed them, and they can't take the blame to save their lives.
The government created this cigarette black market and if the terrorist are in on the deal, the lawmakers have no one to blame but themselves.
Last I looked, cigarettes are still a legal product and it's the American Way to Shop Cheap.
27
posted on
03/13/2005 7:16:57 AM PST
by
SheLion
(The America we once knew and loved ........................is gone.)
To: SheLion
The government created this cigarette black market and if the terrorist are in on the deal, the lawmakers have no one to blame but themselves. AMEN.
28
posted on
03/13/2005 7:26:14 AM PST
by
Gabz
(Wanna join my tag team?)
To: Gabz
That's exactly how I feel. But the lawmakers will never take the blame. They can do no wrong, you know.
29
posted on
03/13/2005 7:41:32 AM PST
by
SheLion
(The America we once knew and loved ........................is gone.)
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Why isn't unlawful for state and federal agencies to over tax legal products based purely on social preference. This is a bad precedence, it allows authority to dictate which legal products we chose. Alcohol, fatty foods, what car you buy, this is tyranny and it goes against freedom of choice in a free society. The way cigarettes are taxed you would believe it was a valuable commodity like a nice home, but quite the contrary, they believe it has no value.
To: SheLion
They need to be continually told they, not smokers are to blame. It needs to be repeatedly oudly and often.
31
posted on
03/13/2005 8:20:30 AM PST
by
Gabz
(Wanna join my tag team?)
To: TheForceOfOne
but quite the contrary, they believe it has no value. Au contraire.......it is of great value to our esteemed lawmakers........you see, tobacco users are only 25% of the population, a minority, thus an easy target for ridicule and outrageous taxes. The majority are all in favor of taxing someone else, so come re-election time they can happily proclaim they didn't raise taxes and the majority will believe how fiscally responsible they are, forgetting that a small minority was taxed to balance the budget.
32
posted on
03/13/2005 8:23:35 AM PST
by
Gabz
(Wanna join my tag team?)
To: Gabz
No no your right, I didn't mean it that way. What you point out is the way they do it. Condemn it and tax it to death. If it was so bad for us why wouldn't they outlaw it, the money, the money, the money, and so it shows they don't really give a damn about the affects it has on your health but they do care about your wallet! lol
To: TheForceOfOne
I understood what you meant - I was being sarcastic, as I had assumed you were.
34
posted on
03/13/2005 8:45:17 AM PST
by
Gabz
(Wanna join my tag team?)
To: SheLion
Thank you SheLion...Just sent this along to a buddy who has to go sign the tobacco buyout forms tomorrow morning.
He said 15 years ago he had 2800#., now it's 701#.
And of course, it's been cut down to $7.00 a lb. Not only is the Government crushing the smokers, but the tobacco farmers as well.
To: borntobeagle
And of course, it's been cut down to $7.00 a lb. Not only is the Government crushing the smokers, but the tobacco farmers as well. Well, thank God for the Internet. They can't hide this stuff anymore. And they better know that!
More and more of us are on to them every day. We can see what it's all about. Money.
Good luck to your friend.
36
posted on
03/13/2005 9:12:09 AM PST
by
SheLion
(The America we once knew and loved ........................is gone.)
To: SheLion
nice paw print......makes it easier to track you :)
37
posted on
03/13/2005 9:19:49 AM PST
by
kingattax
( "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." -Thomas Jefferson)
To: kingattax
nice paw print......makes it easier to track you :) Heheh!
38
posted on
03/13/2005 9:22:41 AM PST
by
SheLion
(The America we once knew and loved ........................is gone.)
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
The disclosure by federal law enforcement officials comes as they are beginning to crack down on illegal cigarette smugglers, who are providing a growing and crucial part of funding to terroristgroups such as al-Qaida and Hezbollah. That's a gimme!
However, for some reason, cutting taxes is NEVER, EVER on the list of recommendations to alleviate ill or undesirable circumstances.
39
posted on
03/13/2005 12:57:37 PM PST
by
EGPWS
To: SheLion
Kentucky surprises me. There's some tobacco growing there.
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