Eight federal indictments have been unsealed charging 15 persons and three businesses with federal offenses relating to schemes to evade California excise taxes on non-cigarette tobacco products, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner and California Attorney General Jerry Brown. The indictments, the result of a joint three-year investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the California Board of Equalization, and ... Jump to full article >>

Labour would need to increase taxes by an average of more than £200 for every family, in addition to rises already announced, to meet its financial commitments, the Institute of Fiscal Studies has said. The Government has already announced increases of £550 a year per household to be introduced over the next 12 months. The economists said Labour had still to announce another £7 billion of rises, meaning that taxes would rise by £24 billion ... Jump to full article >>

Last week the United Kingdom Finance Ministry announced the 2010 State Budget. It will be the last budget for the Chancellor of Exchequer (UK Finance Minster) Alistair Darling, before the June UK general elections. Mr. Darling declared that duties on tobacco products will raise by 1% over the level of inflation and besides that, duties would as well rise by another 2% annually over the next four years. According to the latest tax increase, the p ... Jump to full article >>

For the last six years, Dennis Boudreaux has watched customers come from as far away as Virginia Beach to buy cigarettes at his store in Isle Of Wight County. They are the cheapest smokes in Virginia because there is no local tobacco tax but if that changes Dennis won’t have a choice, he will have to raise his prices. “We have to pass on the cost directly to the customer.” You can blame it on International Paper closing down t ... Jump to full article >>

Enacting Tobacco Taxes by Direct Popular Vote in the United States: Lessons from 20 Years of Experience ABSTRACT Background: Tobacco tax increases reduce tobacco use, can provide funds for tobacco prevention and enjoy broad public support. Because of tobacco industry influence in legislatures, US public health advocates have shifted the venue for tobacco tax policymaking to direct popular vote 22 times since 1988. Methods: We combined case studi ... Jump to full article >>

Cigarette sales resumed Friday at the Cayuga Indian Nation’s LakeSide Trading convenience stores in Union Springs and Seneca Falls after state appellate judges in Rochester ruled in favor of the Indian nation in its tax dispute with Cayuga and Seneca counties. “The word is out,” said B.J. Radford, retail operations manager for the Cayuga nation. In a 4-1 decision released about 3 p.m., judges in the Fourth Judicial Department ... Jump to full article >>