- Baltimore Business Journal
November 14, 2012 - By Sarah Gantz
The Maryland Health Care For All Coalition is calling for another tobacco tax increase.
The group wants the state to raise the tax on cigarettes by a dollar, to $3, coalition president Vincent DeMarco said Wednesday outside the State House in Annapolis. The coalition is calling for a proportionate tax increase on other tobacco products, which are taxed wholesale.
The tax increase would build on previous increases to the tobacco tax and play an important role in funding anti-smoking programs for teenagers and other public health needs, DeMarco said. Tax increases are also key to reducing smoking, especially among teenagers, he said.
During its last session, the General Assembly increased the tax rate on cigarillos — small, often fruit-flavored cigars — to 70 percent the wholesale price, up from 15 percent. The tax rate for other tobacco products also went up, from 15 percent the wholesale price to 30 percent.
Tax on cigarettes last raised in 2007.
The General Assembly begins in January.
(*This article was also mentioned on WYPR on November 14, 2012.)
Last modified: November 15, 2012
