Guess I'll wear these next time I go to the tobacco shop, just saying.
Posted on 02/25/2009 7:06:42 AM PST by ozark hilljilly
CAVERNA, Mo. - Terry Potter lives in Rogers but he won't buy cigarettes in Arkansas.
Potter plays golf in Bella Vista, and it's just a short drive to the Missouri state line, where a carton of cigarettes is considerably cheaper.
"I wouldn't buy cigarettes in Arkansas," he said, while shopping Friday at Don's Stateline Store in Caverna, Mo. "It's an $8 or $10 difference right now."
On March 1, Arkansas' new 56-cents-per-pack cigarette tax will go into effect, raising the price by $5.60 for a wholesale carton that likely will be passed on to retail customers. The tax will increase other tobacco products by 36 percent on the selling price, up from the current 32 percent, for a total rate of 68 percent. The money is supposed to help pay for a trauma system in Arkansas hospitals.
The price for a carton of cigarettes currently ranges from about $25 in Missouri to about $42 for a premium brand in Arkansas. A carton generally has 10 packs, each with 20 cigarettes.
"That's just more incentive to drive to Missouri," Potter said. "I think sometimes state governments lose sight of population concentrations on state lines."
Missouri has the second lowest state cigarette tax in the country - 17 cents per pack. Arkansas' current tax is 59 cents per pack, but that amount will increase to $1.15 per pack on March 1, which is still 4 cents below the national average. Nationally, the state tax rates on cigarettes range from 7 cents per pack in South Carolina to $2.58 in New Jersey, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators.
Just across the state line from Bella Vista, retailers in Missouri are anxious for Arkansas to start collecting the higher tobacco tax.
"Next month, it's going to get real busy," said Pam Cowger, manager of The Jug Store in Caverna.
The increases will continue.
On April Fools Day, the federal government will raise its cigarette tax by 62 cents per pack across the country, which means the price of a pack of cigarettes in Arkansas will increase by $1.18 between now and then. Add sales taxes to the state and federal excise taxes, and the total taxes on a carton of cigarettes in Benton County will be at least $18.76 in April, compared to $7.90 in Missouri, said Cowger.
"On April 1, people will stop buying cigarettes in Arkansas," she predicted. "That's a lot of difference. That's going to help our business."
"Between the lottery, the booze and the cigarettes, it's all cheaper in Missouri," said Angela Holland, another manager at The Jug Store. "I guess we don't have all the outrageous taxes. I hope they don't get any ideas."
*snip*
BOOTLEGGING?
Holland said it's not unusual to have Arkansas residents buy $400 to $600 worth of cigarettes at a time.
Arkansans may legally possess one carton plus one pack of cigarettes that don't have an Arkansas cigarette tax, said Gabe Holmstrom, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office. Arkansans can have 50 cigars or three pounds of loose smoking tobacco without the state tax stamp. If they possess more than that, or sell cigarettes in Arkansas that don't have the state stamp, "it's a criminal offense," Holmstrom wrote in an e-mail.
If the value exceeds $100, it's a Class C felony, punishable by three to 10 years in prison. If the value is less than $100, it's a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail.
"The Missouri border is going to be a problem when the new tax kicks in," said Greg Sled, enforcement supervisor for the Arkansas Tobacco Control Board. "With the increased Arkansas excise taxes, we anticipate a significant increase in tobacco smuggling. So far, most of our enforcement has been targeted at the retail level, but in light of the new tax increases, additional enforcement needs will be evaluated and enforcement efforts may include both retailers and consumers. This will take additional man-power to keep tobacco smuggling in check."
"If cigarette smuggling becomes a problem, then we would step up, at the direction of our director," said Capt. Lance King, with Troop L of the Arkansas State Police in Springdale. "But we haven't yet."
Which gives them cause to crack heads even harder.
Oy!
Never in my lifetime did I ever think I’d see my country turned on its’ head so fast.
But I bet we all have been saying that way too much lately.
I first bought cigatettes in 1971. Three packs of Camels were a dollar and a few cents. Leave it to Big Brother.
I’m so sick of this administrations plethora of “unintended consequences”!
I’m sure in their eyes it was all those evil conservative capitalists that made cigars popular, so therefor, anyone connected to the biz must be punished.
I’m sure someone will come up with some silly ass “green” technology they can busy themselves with instead of making cigars. Kinda like the Afghan farmers switching to crops other than poppies.
What’s the difference between buying smokes across the state line and buying anything else? I live in the southmost part of Chicago. When I used to smoke cigarettes, I always bought them in Indiana. The same for gasoline. The same for a lot of things, and do you know why? Not only is the tax on everything a lot less in Indiana — but the disparity between Indiana’s tax and Illinois’ tax has destroyed a lot of retail business in my part of Chicago. There isn’t a gasoline station within miles of my house in Illinois. There isn’t a regular convenience store that doesn’t also have a liquor department or an ethnic meat counter. But cross the line into Indiana, and it’s a whole different retail world — gas stations, smoke shops, grocery stores.
Our fine public servants would do better if they spent more time considering how their own insane and burdensome tax policies have damaged not only people lives, but also the economies of their jurisdiction, and spend less time finding out ways to threaten free consumers or turn them into criminals.
Remove the plastic covering that has the stamp on it and throw it away before you leave the state.
Nanny State PING!!!!!!!!!!
I saw a sign like that in North Carolina a couple years back, driving home from vacation. We stopped at a tobacco outlet where cartons and rolls of chewing tobacco were half the price as here in PA. We bought cartons and rolls for us and for our friends back home, but stopped at an ATM to get money out instead of using our debit card.
Is it less risky criminally to smoke pot?
“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers.”
Quote by: Ayn Rand
(1905-1982) Author
Source: “Atlas Shrugged”, Part II, Chapter 3
Its less risky to bring in 25 mexicans in an Econoline van.
People will learn to do what they have to. What the idiots in the govt. will find out is that folks will find a way around them, that or people will give up smoking cause they just can’t afford it anymore, then what?
Our PRECIOUS tax revenues!!! This is not what we wanted!!!
(Reminds me of LOTR, you?)
Yes we have been.
I did not want to see this happen in my lifetime but I will deal with what is dealt too me.
A paper with "Democrat" in the title actually tells people that taxes on producers are passed
No, they can't quite bring themselves to say that it will. They say it likely will.
FFX tax agents raided our lobby deli last week. Seems the old guy running it was buying cigs at COSTCO and selling them at a slight markup. All taxed, of course.
But the COSTCO was over the county line, and while the tax rates are the same, the wrong county was getting the tax.
So they siezed all his cigs.
I remember when this was a free country...
Guess I'll wear these next time I go to the tobacco shop, just saying.
OUCH! HEY! OWWWWWWW!!
OK, OK I take it back!
Thanks for the ping!
Atlas the Smoker is Shrugging.
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