The Largest Tax Increase on any product in the Entire History of The United States is being seriously considered right now - and it's on CIGARS!
YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED! The proposed taxes in the current Senate Finance Committee proposal will have a devastating impact on the cigar industry putting retail shops, mail order companies, distributors, cigar manufacturers, leaf tobacco growers and several hundred thousand workers in Central America out of business or out of work.
Under the current proposal, the cigar tax rate would increase an astounding 20,413% to a maximum of $10 per cigar! All large cigars would effectively be taxed at 53.13% of the manufacturer's selling price. In all of the Internal Revenue Code, no other product is subject to an excise tax that approaches this level. To compound the injury, a "floor stock" tax would be assessed on all products in inventory, and put a majority of the industry out of business in one fell swoop. Below is a list of Senators along with their phone numbers.
The full Senate is expected to consider the legislation next week, but possibly sooner. We need you to act NOW and immediately contact your U.S. Senators.
To assist you in composing your thoughts, here is what I communicated to my Senators:
This massive tax increase, the largest in the entire history of our nation, is not only unfair to cigar consumers and cigar retailers in this country, it poses a dire threat to several hundred thousand workers employed in the cigar industry in Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru, Brasil, The Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, The Cameroons, Costa Rica, Panama and other Third World Nations. The effect on those economies and the ill will it will create toward the USA is staggering to say the least, and will have to be offset with increased Foreign Aid which may negate the sum total of the revenue created by this horrific tax. I urge you to oppose this tax.
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