[martin_fierro]

Think I'll celebrate with my favorite cigar.

[Marguerite]

Hear, hear!

My cigarette is celebrating already ;-)

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

I enjoy the scene in "Shenandoa" where James Steward is sitting on his front porch after dinner, rolls up his own tobacco leaves, cuts it, lights it, smokes it. Ahhhh, culture.

[Marguerite]

[SheLion]

California Information

Tobacco Taxes California's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.870 California's excise tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2002: $1,074,323,000 Sales tax on tobacco products: 7.25% Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39 Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2002: $7,512,700,000 Click here for the Cigarette Tax and Payment Table for all states.

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Comparing Excise Taxes on Cigarettes, Beer and Wine

Number of six-packs of beer that must be sold in California to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 77.3

Number of bottles of wine that must be sold in California to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 219.6

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California Smokers' Contributions
to the State Economy - 2002

 

California smokers comprise only 17.2%¹ of the adult population in the state. Here is what they already pay because they choose to buy a legal product:

 

Smokers Pay Excise Taxes2	$	1,074,322,864
Smokers Pay Sales Taxes2	$	333,410,544
Smokers Pay Tobacco Settlement Payments3	$	913,332,154
	$	2,321,065,562

Smokers' Economic/Tax Profile

• Income

California smokers' median income 20011

$

35,620

• California State Tax Liability for Median Income Smoker⁴

Annual state income tax liability for a couple	$	370
Annual state income tax liability for a couple with two children	$	212

• Smoker Excise Tax/Sales Tax/Tobacco Settlement Payments Liability⁵

Total average paid per California smoker in excise and sales taxes	$	332
Cost per California smoker for settlement payments to California	$	216
Total annual payment to California per smoker	$	548

 

California Smoker Facts⁶

• Total smokers' payments to California in FY2002 were:
  • Eight times as large as state excise taxes on alcohol in FY2001 ($288.5 million).
  • Larger than occupation and business license revenues ($1.7 billion) in FY2001.
  • Two and one-half times as large as the Estate, Inheritance, and Gift tax collections ($934.7 million) in FY2001.
  • Larger than the Insurance Gross Premium tax revenues ($1.5 billion) in FY2001.
• Smokers' payments in FY2002 were large enough to provide for estimated FY2002 expenditures for:
  • The California Highway Patrol ($960.6 million).
  • The Department of Parks and Recreation, including local assistance ($1.4 billion).
  • The California Environmental Protection Agency ($1.6 billion).
  • Public Health Services ($727.1 million).
  • Department of Mental Health ($995.9 million).
• In 1997, approximately 27,873 Californians held jobs related to the sale or distribution of tobacco products. Those jobs resulted in an additional $45.8 million to the state in personal and corporate income taxes.⁷

TOTAL SMOKER CIGARETTE PAYMENTS TO CALIFORNIA

Per year:	$	2,321,065,562
Per day:	$	6,354,731
Per hour:	$	264,780
Per minute:	$	4,413
Per second:	$	74

CIGARETTES DON'T PAY TAXES -
CALIFORNIA SMOKERS DO!!

[Gabz]

Thanks for the ping, my FRiend!