Excise Tax Rates Remain Scattered

Although raising excise taxes on cigarettes remains one of the best ways to curb smoking use and the health issues it causes, these levies are not comparable when taken on a state-by-state basis. Last year 15 states approved an increase in cigarette excise taxes, running the gamut from $3.46 per pack in Rhode Island to seven cents per pack in South Carolina.

Not surprisingly, cigarette tax rates have continued to stay low in tobacco-growing states and those that surround them. Up until the recent seven-penny increase mentioned above, the Palmetto State had not enacted a tax hike on cigarettes since 1977. Additionally, the average tax rate in the cash-crop states of Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia is 40 cents per pack, as opposed to an average of $1.46 per pack in other parts of the country.