Cigarette & RYO Tobacco Tax Rates and Dates

After burdening smokers with paying the ongoing costs of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), smokers are continually assaulted in most states with ever increasing Excise Taxes. A more recent assault against cigarette smokers is being quietly enacted in the form of state mandates for the so-called fire-safe cigarettes (FSC) also known as reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes. 34 states have already passed laws mandating that all cigarettes sold within their borders must be FSC compliant, with 16 of those states already enforcing the requirement. Canada enacted a nationwide FSC law on October 1, 2005.

FSC, Cigarette & RYO Tax Table Notes:

The table below shows the effective date of the FSC laws in 34 states and the 7 additional states with pending FSC legislation. The table also lists the current cigarette tax and OTP (Other Tobacco Products) tax rates for all 50 states plus Wash. D.C.. Note that although the OTP category includes cigars, chewing tobacco, smoking tobacco and snuff, the table below ONLY shows the tax rate for smoking tobacco (some states tax different OTP products at varying rates).

The cigarette tax listed is for a standard pack of 20 cigarettes. The OTP tax rate is calculated in several ways depending on the state. The wholesale price indicates the price charged to the retailer by the wholesaler / distributor, whereas the manuf. (manufacturers price) is usually based on the price charged by the manufacturer to the wholesaler / distributor. The dates listed denote the most recent increase in cigarette and OTP tax rates.

Federal Tax Notes:

Since Jan/01/2002 the U.S. Federal Tax on a standard pack of (20) cigarettes is $0.39
Federal tax on smoking tobacco = $0.0686 per oz. ($1.0969 per lb.)
Federal tax on cigarette papers (50 or less) = $0.0122
Federal tax on cigarette tubes (50 or less) = $0.0244