Tax On Cigarettes

For the first time in more than a decade, Carroll residents are paying sales tax on cigarettes.Cigarettes were subject to Maryland's 5 percent sales tax until 1980, when the General Assembly raised the excise tax from 10 cents to 13 cents. Legislators removed the sales tax as a concession to the tobacco industry, said Marvin A. Bond, assistant state comptroller.The reinstated 5 percent tax, coupled with another 3-cent increase in the excise tax on a pack of cigarettes, bumped up the cost of a pack by 12 or 13 cents.

Over the past decade, Maryland has gradually raised its tax on cigarettes to the current $2 per pack, and the results have been striking. Fewer people smoke cigarettes today than before the tax was implemented, and that's particularly true among high school students. Yet even as lawmakers acted boldly to reduce cigarette use, they foolishly left alone other forms of tobacco, chiefly snuff, chewing tobacco and cigars. So while cigarettes and what's known as "OTP" or Other Tobacco Products were taxed at comparable levels in 1999 (36 cents per pack for cigarettes and 15 percent of wholesale prices for OTP)

Gov. Parris N. Glendening is backing a $1.50 increase to the existing 36-cents-per-pack tax on cigarettes. An article in yesterday's Maryland section incorrectly stated the proposed tobacco increase.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 11/26/98

If Maryland is going to tax cigarette smokers and say it's for their health, isn't the state obligated to spend some minimum amount to help them quit or prevent others from starting the habit in the first place? That was the argument heard in the State House a decade ago when the tax on cigarettes was raised to $1 a pack and lawmakers set a relatively modest mandate for anti-smoking programs. Now, Gov. Martin O'Malley is looking to cut the state's $21 million minimum for tobacco prevention and cessation programs to a mere $7 million a year.

A two-month investigation led to the arrest over the weekend of a New York man and to the seizure of $42,411 worth of untaxed cigarettes, according to the Maryland comptroller's office. Ahmed Oman Mohammed, 32, was arrested by enforcement agents for the comptroller's office after his van - which authorities said contained 12,900 packs of untaxed cigarettes - was stopped early Saturday on Route 301 and Old Marlboro Pike in Prince George's County. Mohammed was charged with transportation of untaxed cigarettes, a felony that carries a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of $50 per carton.

If Maryland is going to tax cigarette smokers and say it's for their health, isn't the state obligated to spend some minimum amount to help them quit or prevent others from starting the habit in the first place? That was the argument heard in the State House a decade ago when the tax on cigarettes was raised to $1 a pack and lawmakers set a relatively modest mandate for anti-smoking programs. Now, Gov. Martin O'Malley is looking to cut the state's $21 million minimum for tobacco prevention and cessation programs to a mere $7 million a year.

ANNAPOLIS -- Two budget-balancing tax measures, one increasing the tax on cigarettes and the other reducing the tax break for capital gains, gained preliminary approval in the House yesterday.The bill to apply the state's 5 percent sales tax to cigarettes moved to a final vote today after delegates defeated, 119-4, a proposal by Delegate Gerald J. Curran, D-Baltimore, to replace it with a 1 percent across-the-board increase in the sales tax."This is the tax rate amendment you've been waiting to vote against," crowed Delegate James C. Rosapepe, D-Prince George's.

Two measures to raise taxes on cigarettes are heading for the General Assembly.One would boost Maryland's cigarette tax rate from the sixth lowest in the country to the sixth highest. That bill, expected to be introduced next week, would raise the state tax on cigarettes by 20 cents a pack, to 33 cents.The other measure would extend the state's 5 percent sales tax to cigarettes, which could add up to a dime a pack.House Speaker R. Clayton Mitchell Jr., an outspoken critic of new taxes, said he would consider supporting the 20-cent tax increase if someone can demonstrate the need for new revenues.

Discussions are under way in the General Assembly to raise the tax on cigarettes in Maryland. Although Gov. Martin O'Malley and certain key members of the Assembly are opposed to it, a bipartisan coalition is backing the plan. Raising cigarette taxes, however, brings with it a unique set of problems that may result in less revenue and cost the state more to enforce compliance than advocates claim. If some policymakers get their way, Marylanders will be paying $2 in taxes on each pack of cigarettes they buy in the state.

Delegate Elizabeth S. Smith marveled at how quickly "anti-tax" lawmakers turned pro-tax last week.Only two months ago, sentiment among lawmakers was overwhelmingly against new levies. But the House of Delegates split along party lines March 9 when it passed a 5 percent sales tax on cigarettes, 105-28, and eliminated Maryland's 40 percent tax break on capital gains, 91-40.Smith, R-Davidsonville, says Democratic lawmakers turned a deaf ear to voters when they passed the $74 million tax package to balance the state's $11.6 billion budget.

A pack of five apple-flavored Black & Mild little cigars costs slightly less than a pack of cigarettes. Next month, it will cost a lot less. That's because while Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Maryland General Assembly chose to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by one dollar during this fall's special session, they neglected to raise taxes for any other form of tobacco. It's a glaring omission that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. Cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff and the like raise many of the same health concerns that cigarettes do. A little cigar, for instance, is inhaled just like a cigarette (an unfiltered one, at that)

Discussions are under way in the General Assembly to raise the tax on cigarettes in Maryland. Although Gov. Martin O'Malley and certain key members of the Assembly are opposed to it, a bipartisan coalition is backing the plan. Raising cigarette taxes, however, brings with it a unique set of problems that may result in less revenue and cost the state more to enforce compliance than advocates claim. If some policymakers get their way, Marylanders will be paying $2 in taxes on each pack of cigarettes they buy in the state.

A two-month investigation led to the arrest over the weekend of a New York man and to the seizure of $42,411 worth of untaxed cigarettes, according to the Maryland comptroller's office. Ahmed Oman Mohammed, 32, was arrested by enforcement agents for the comptroller's office after his van - which authorities said contained 12,900 packs of untaxed cigarettes - was stopped early Saturday on Route 301 and Old Marlboro Pike in Prince George's County. Mohammed was charged with transportation of untaxed cigarettes, a felony that carries a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of $50 per carton.

Avoiding a potentially embarrassing State House defeat, Gov. Parris N. Glendening rounded up enough Democratic support to turn aside a filibuster last night and won Senate approval for a 30-cent-a-pack increase in the state tax on cigarettes.While the amount is substantially less than the $1 increase he initially proposed, Glendening could claim victory after spending the day cajoling and bargaining with Democrats who had held up a vote on the tax bill for three days.Before securing the vote, the governor acquiesced to demands from legislators that the state spend at least $21 million annually on smoking-cessation programs.

Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer declared his support for a $1 per-package increase in the tax on cigarettes yesterday and pledged to redouble efforts to prevent smuggling, which opponents of the increase say is certain if the tax is raised.If the increase is approved, Maryland smokers would face a total tax of $1.36 a package -- and have a new incentive to shop in Virginia where the levy is 2 cents a package.Opponents have been using that suggestion as leverage for votes against the measure.

The governor's plan to increase the tax on cigarettes by a dollar a pack is in trouble in the General Assembly, key lawmakers said yesterday.The bill, which would also impose a new 25 percent tax on other tobacco products, is expected to survive a committee vote this week in the House of Delegates, but faces stronger opposition in the Senate."

A pack of five apple-flavored Black & Mild little cigars costs slightly less than a pack of cigarettes. Next month, it will cost a lot less. That's because while Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Maryland General Assembly chose to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by one dollar during this fall's special session, they neglected to raise taxes for any other form of tobacco. It's a glaring omission that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. Cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff and the like raise many of the same health concerns that cigarettes do. A little cigar, for instance, is inhaled just like a cigarette (an unfiltered one, at that)

ANNAPOLIS -- With the state increasingly strapped for cash, health organizations are promoting a 20-cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette excise tax as a tonic for the budget as well as the public health.A coalition of doctors, childrens' advocates and legislators who support the measure are considering major concessions to get it passed.Under the bill's current provisions, most of the $84 million it raises would be dedicated to health and smoking prevention programs. But Robin Shaivitz, a spokeswoman for the anti-smoking coalition, said that even if all the money ended up in the General Fund with no strings attached, the coalition would not object -- since that prospect provides the best leverage for the bill.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening is backing a $1.50 increase to the existing 36-cents-per-pack tax on cigarettes. An article in yesterday's Maryland section incorrectly stated the proposed tobacco increase.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 11/26/98

An article in Thursday's Howard County edition of The Sun inaccurately described Sen. Martin G. Madden as the only Republican co-sponsor of cigarette-tax legislation in the state Senate this year. Montgomery County Republican Sen. Jean W. Roesser was also a co-sponsor.The Sun regrets the error.A couple of local Republican candidates are talking openly about the possibility of supporting a big tax increase, and a new poll suggests that's not necessarily a bad idea.That's because the Republicans in question are running against incumbent Democrats who support such a tax increase -- on cigarettes.