Tuesday, July 2nd 2019, 1:27 pm
A 92% tax on e-cigarettes went into effect in Vermont Monday as part of an effort to curb youth vaping in the Green Mountain State.
State Rep. George Till, who sponsored the tax increase bill, said the measure will help keep tobacco products out of the hands of kids, who are most affected by price hikes.
"We know the group that is most sensitive to price is teenager," he told CBS MoneyWatch. "And we know that these companies are going out of their way to get kids addicted."
The new tax, which passed in February, will not effect packs of cigarettes, which will still be subject to a $3.08 tax. E-cigarettes and other tobacco-substitute products, including those "intended for human consumption by smoking, chewing, or in any other manner," were previously subject to the state's standard 6% sales tax.
Ninety-two percent is the same rate at which snuff -- a form of smokeless tobacco -- and pipe tobacco are already taxed. "We are trying to keep the tax across all nasty things the same," Till said.
E-cigarettes were previously cheaper than combustible cigarettes, but will now cost roughly the same amount.
Two additional bills aimed at controlling youth e-cigarette usage also went into effect Monday in Vermont. The first raises the legal age for purchasing and using cigarettes, e-cigarettes and tobacco products to 21 from 18. The second restricts retail and internet sales of "tobacco products, tobacco substitutes, substances containing nicotine or otherwise intended for use with a tobacco substitute, or tobacco paraphernalia" unless the vendor is a licensed wholesale dealer or has purchased the products from a licensed wholesale dealer.
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