- Posted
- April 08, 2010
Tobacco tax hike unlikely in Ohio
Since 2009 16 states and the District of Columbia have raised cigarette taxes and at least a half-dozen more are considering doing the same this year, but there is apparently little interest in raising the tobacco tax in Ohio (Source: “Little interest so far in higher cigarette tax in Ohio,” Mansfield News Journal, April 8, 2010).
Health advocates are pushing tobacco taxes as a way to dissuade smoking and a means to bridge the state budget shortfall. Shelly Kiser, advocacy director for the American Lung Association of Ohio, said doubling the tax to $2.50 a pack would bring in an extra $347 million in revenue a year.
But Gordon Gough, vice president of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, said adding to smokers' financial strain may decrease smoking, but would then drive state revenue downward. "There is a tipping point to where too much tax decreases revenue," he said.
State Sen. Dale Miller, D-Cleveland, sponsored a bill last year to raise the tax on non-cigarette tobacco products for the first time since 1992, from 17 percent to 54 percent. The bill died in committee.
"Right now there's a pretty big reluctance to raising taxes," Miller said. "It's not a popular thing to do."
Health advocates are pushing tobacco taxes as a way to dissuade smoking and a means to bridge the state budget shortfall. Shelly Kiser, advocacy director for the American Lung Association of Ohio, said doubling the tax to $2.50 a pack would bring in an extra $347 million in revenue a year.
But Gordon Gough, vice president of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, said adding to smokers' financial strain may decrease smoking, but would then drive state revenue downward. "There is a tipping point to where too much tax decreases revenue," he said.
State Sen. Dale Miller, D-Cleveland, sponsored a bill last year to raise the tax on non-cigarette tobacco products for the first time since 1992, from 17 percent to 54 percent. The bill died in committee.
"Right now there's a pretty big reluctance to raising taxes," Miller said. "It's not a popular thing to do."
