Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Holy smokes: Cigarette tax about to go up $1 a pack

R.J. Reynolds

Paul Sakuma / AP

In this Feb. 1, 2011, photo, Camel cigarettes, an R.J. Reynolds product, are on display at a liquor store.

Smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em, because starting Wednesday the tax on a pack of cigarettes in Nevada will be going up by $1.

The price bump comes by way of a tax increase passed by the Legislature that will take the excise tariff on each pack of cigarettes from 80 cents to $1.80.

The cigarette tax is expected to generate an additional $192 million in revenue over two years as part of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s recently approved $1.1 billion tax package to increase K-12 education funding.

The tax hike makes Nevada’s cigarette excise tax the 18th highest in the country, up from 38th prior to the hike, according to data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The state’s tax is the largest of four cigarette tax increases scheduled to take effect on July 1. The tax is also going up in Kansas, Vermont and Louisiana.

Nevada’s $1.80 surcharge sits slightly higher than the national average of $1.58 a pack. For comparison, the highest tax rate is in New York at $4.35 a pack; the lowest is in Virginia at 30 cents a pack.

Anti-smoking advocates expect the tax to do more than just boost the Nevada’s finances.

“It will drive down smoking and raise revenue. It’s the one tax in every state voters support overwhelmingly. It’s a win-win-win,” said John Schachter, director of state communications for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

According to the group, for every 10 percent increase in the cost of cigarettes, smoking rates decline by 3 to 5 percent. The effect is even greater among youth, with a decrease of 6 to 7 percent.

The tax increase will also save the state money in the future by decreasing medical costs associated with tobacco use, said Schachter. “You save millions, potentially hundreds of millions or billions in health care costs over time,” he said.

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