E-cigarettes usually aren’t taxed like regular tobacco products. Utah’s governor wants to change that.
By Hunter Schwarz | The Washington Post
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert wants e-cigarettes to be taxed, and his office thinks it could bring in $10 million for the state annually.
“The governor feels strongly we should tax e-cigarettes the same way as other tobacco products,” said Marty Carpenter, a Herbert spokesman, in an interview with the Washington Post. “We don’t want to be in the business of incentivizing” e-cigarettes, he said.
The tax was included as a footnote in Herbert’s budget proposal released Thursday, and first reported by the Salt Lake Tribune. Herbert tweeted about the tax Monday.
While cigarettes are taxed in every state — from a high of $4.35 in New York to $.17 in Missouri — Utah would be among the first to tax e-cigarettes. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only Minnesota and North Carolina currently tax e-cigarettes, but Carpenter said he “wouldn’t surprise me if other states were to look at something similar.”
For e-cigarettes to be taxed, the legislature would need to create and pass a bill. Carpenter said he doesn’t anticipate much opposition to such the proposed tax.
