Peter Corroon sat at his dining room table holding a pack of Marlboro Light cigarettes, surrounded by his wife, Amy, and their three young children, but he wasn’t even thinking about lighting up. The Salt Lake County mayor, who has his sights set on the Governor’s Mansion just around the corner from his home in the Avenues, talked Sunday with his kids about the health risks of smoking while repeating his support for increasing the sta ... Jump to full article >>

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Gov. Gary Herbert is mistaken when he equates proposals to drastically increase the state’s cigarette tax with the kind of tax increase that would harm a struggling economy. Reasons to raise the cigarette tax are many, varied and compelling. Yes, it would raise revenue — estimates run between $24 million and $70 million, depending on the size of the increase and projections on how many people would quit the habit — but the health benefi ... Jump to full article >>

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The chief executive of Rank has played host to David Cameron and Alistair Darling at the group’s bingo and casino clubs, but the Prime Minister remains stubbornly elusive. “I’ve not yet been successful in persuading him to come and visit. I’ll keep trying,” says Burke. Burke has plenty to discuss. The 52-year old has just used the platform of Rank’s 2009 results to lay out a template for change that would see t ... Jump to full article >>

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It’s one of the most old-fashioned taxes of all, but the question of what you measure to levy it is emerging as the latest skirmish in the never-ending battle for space on stores’ tobacco shelves. The stakes can be high — a change in the way Texas levied its excise tax on smokeless tobacco has just about driven old-fashioned, loose-leaf chewing tobacco out of the state. Now, in Virginia, the muted clash over the excise tax betwe ... Jump to full article >>

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Gov. Bill Richardson said Tuesday he will call a special session of the Legislature next week if lawmakers fail to agree on a state budget before adjourning on Thursday but there’s still time to reach a compromise on spending and tax increases. The Democratic governor said lawmakers should consider a small increase in New Mexico’s gross receipts tax — perhaps one-eighth or one-quarter of a cent — along with a tax on junk f ... Jump to full article >>

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Using open, always-on network connections, Customs officers would be able to inspect the stock-administration of alcohol and cigarette producers at any time, Bulgarian-language daily Standart said. According to the daily, amendments to Customs ordinances that were currently being discussed would allow Customs officers to verify if accounted production amounts of excise goods and taxes paid coincided with a company’s stock-accounting. The s ... Jump to full article >>

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