Wyoming Cigarette Tax Increase Snuffed Out

A proposal to increase the state's cigarette excise tax from 60 cents to $1.60 a pack goes has been defeated in the Wyoming House.

January 31, 2013

CHEYENNE - A House bill to increase the state tax on cigarettes 167% was defeated earlier this week.

The current tax on a pack of cigarettes in Wyoming is 60 cents; House Bill 199 sought to raise that amount by $1 to $1.60, with the entire increase going to Medicaid.

According to the Colorado/Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association (CWPMA), the proposed increase was excessive and would not have achieved its intended effect to benefit Medicaid.

"This was an abusive tax and it would have led to cross-border sales and an increase in illegal sales," said CWPMA Executive Director Mark Larson told NACS Daily. "It would have also been a boon for [Indian reservation] sales where they don??t charge tax."

As to the future of the proposal, Larson said he hasn??t heard whether it will be reintroduced later in the year. But he said it was significant that one of the bill??s co-sponsors, state Rep. Gerald Gay, voted against the measure.

"Wyoming is an anti-tax state, and he probably didn??t want to go back and tell his constituents that he voted for it," Larson said.

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