Most news sources are positioning this as a tax on e-cigarettes themselves, which is not quite correct. There will be no excise tax on the devices used, whether they be ones where you purchase replacement cartridges, such as Blue, or ones where you refill the cartridges yourself, such as my Kanger EVOD. Instead, they’re aiming at the e-liquids themselves. Even though many people purchase liquid with no nicotine
(Charlotte Business Journal) Draft legislation for the taxation of electronic cigarettes was approved Tuesday by the North Carolina General Assembly’s Joint Revenue Laws Study Committee, WRAL reports.
The state imposes a sales tax on the devices but does not collect an excise tax, as is imposed on cigarettes and other tobacco products. The proposal would tax the liquid in e-cigarettes – liquid that contains nicotine derived from tobacco – at a rate of 5 cents per milliliter.
This will supposedly bring in up to $5 million a year. And, I’m sure, some folks go “hey, it’s just 5 cents per milliliter. No biggie”. But, taxes always seem to start low, and work their way up. I purchase my favorite flavors in 30ml bottles. That’s an extra $1.50 each time, imposed artificially. And, for what reason? None of the articles I have read so far give a reason for imposing this excise tax. Other than, perhaps, because RJ Reynolds, a tobacco company, supports it, and their product would not be taxed.
(WRAL) Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, noted that the low rate could cause significant state revenue losses down the road.
“That will have an impact upon us when we do our budget projections for lost revenues … moving from 45 cents to 5 cents,” he said.
Wait, what? There is no excise tax currently on e-cig liquids. How can there be an revenue loss on something that doesn’t exist? This is simply Democrat World.
If Thom Tillis, who won the GOP nomination to go up against Kay Hagan for her Senate seat, wants to prove his Conservative bonofides he can kill this proposed legislation, as Speaker of the House. Tweet him here.
As Ronald Reagan pointed out, Government’s view of the economy is “If it moves, tax it”. Why mess with economic movement? When I purchase e-liquid, I pay the current NC sales tax. Why add more?
maybe it means that more people will be switching from nicotine that is taxed now to nicotine that is not taxed.
Nicotine is a powerful mood altering drug, this is why so many people use it as a control for their mood and emotions.
Teach knowing that fewer young Americans are tobacco addicts and that the young vote heavily Dem, would you guess that smokers tend to be more Republican than Dem ?
Also since women also tend to vote Dem and women smoke at about a 25% lower rate tha men, wouldn’t that also seem to indicate that it is Republicans who tend to use this emotional control drug more than Dems?
And of course in general (Utah being a notable exception) Red states tend to smoke more (and are poorer) than Blue states.
I love the last line of that article. “The state estimates that 87-102 milliliters of e-cigarette liquid is sold in North Carolina each year.”
You must not be vaping much, Teach. Only three to four 30ml bottles of liquid are sold in your state in an entire year!
heh
heh. yeah. I take it then that only one person in the whole state is buying this stuff? If so, how are the politicians going to make any profit,…err.. taxes.. off of this purchase?
Taxes are meant to be punitive. So, what about the liquids is bad for commerce? Or the populace?