Diamond: Tobacco Tax Increase Unfair, Unreliable And Will Encourage Black Market
HARRISBURG – Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) today forcefully spoke out against a revenue package approved by the House that would, if signed by the governor, increase taxes on Pennsylvanians by more than $750 million.
Diamond specifically questioned a provision that would increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack, while expanding taxation to loose-leaf and smokeless tobacco products and vaping supplies.
“History has shown that revenue projections from new tobacco taxes almost never materialize. Smokers can travel out of state to obtain products at cheaper costs, and – worse – a black market can develop that encourages smugglers with links to organized crime and terrorist organizations to import cigarettes from elsewhere to fund criminal activity.”
If fully implemented, Pennsylvania’s cigarette taxes would be significantly higher than those of many of its neighbors. Cigarettes would be $1.25 per pack cheaper in Maryland, $1.50 per pack cheaper in Ohio, $2.25 per pack cheaper in Delaware and $3 per pack cheaper in West Virginia.
In Philadelphia, which has special authority to assess $2 more per pack than the rest of the state, a pack of cigarettes would cost a whopping $4.25 more per pack than in nearby Delaware.
“Thirty-seven percent of our state’s population lives within an hour’s drive of the Delaware border, including all of the Philadelphia metropolitan area,” said Diamond. “There will be a mass exodus of consumers across the Delaware line – undercutting revenue projections and hurting Pennsylvania business. Thirty-three percent of convenience store sales in our state are a result of tobacco-related purchases. What will happen to those businesses once traffic moves out of state?”
Diamond also noted a philosophical objection to targeting one class of taxpayers to finance the bulk of new government spending.
“This revenue plan bullies smokers and unduly burdens the poor,” Diamond added.
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Representative Russ Diamond
102nd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ryan Travis
rtravis@pahousegop.com
RepDiamond.com /
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