public policy
R.I. has highest cigarette tax – by far
AT $3.46, RHODE ISLAND’S CIGARETTE TAX is 71 cents more than New York’s, which is the second-highest state cigarette tax in the nation.
BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO / JIM R. BOUNDS
BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO / JIM R. BOUNDS
By Ted Nesi
PBN Web Editor
PROVIDENCE – It’s official: Rhode Island’s cigarette tax is now the highest levy on smokes in the country by a wide margin, according to new figures released by The Tax Foundation.
Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and lawmakers agreed to raise the state cigarette tax by $1 to $3.46 a pack to help close a state budget shortfall this spring.
That makes Rhode Island’s cigarette tax not only highest in the country but 25 percent more than the next-highest tax, in New York, which levies $2.75 on every pack, according to a review of new state taxes by The Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based research group that also advocates lower taxes.
At $2.51 a pack, Massachusetts’ cigarette tax ranks sixth-highest. Connecticut’s $2-a-pack tax is tied with seven other states as the ninth-highest.
The Tax Foundation updated its records on state cigarette and other taxes to reflect changes made during recent legislative sessions. Most states’ fiscal years, including Rhode Island’s, began on July 1.
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