Taxing Day for Smokers

FORT WAYNE, IND. (WANE) - Wednesday, April 1st will be a taxing day for smokers. It’s no April Fool’s Joke that a pack of cigarettes will go up about 60 cents, but the tax hike doesn't stop there.

"It's pretty absurdly ridiculous really," said smoker Samuel Collis
"I don't like it too much, I mean, I think cigarettes have gone up a lot as it is," said smoker Scott Wakefield.
"I don't know what to think! I think I might stop," said smoker Titus Aron.

It seems that anyone who lights up isn't lighting up with happiness over the federal tax hike. It raises the price of a pack of cigarettes by 62 cents or nearly $5 a week for those smoking a pack a day.

"Raising the cigarette tax is crazy! I mean, gas went down and everything else is going up," said Aron.

Tax increases for cigars and cigarettes aren't the only things that tobacco users will have to worry about. Take for example roll-your-own tobacco. A one pound bag formerly cost you about $18 with all the taxes. Now that will be more like $50.

Rolling tobacco has the largest tax increase. The federal tax alone starting April 1st is $24.78. Then, the Indiana "Other Tobacco Product Tax" of 24% adds $4.31 to the price. Throw in the Indiana State Sales Tax of $1.26, and you get a new brand total of $48.30, which is more than double the product’s original cost.

Store owners speculate the sharp cost increase is a method to discourage people from buying loose cigarette tobacco, which can be cheaper than buying a pack of cigarettes.

Other tobacco products are going up at different percentages, and that's giving business owners a headache.

"I've got forms here that I have to fill out and each different category is a different tax rate, so it's rather complicated," John Minnich of Riegel’s Tobacco told NewsChannel 15’s Matt McCutcheon.

All told, the federal increase is expected to raise $35 billion for health insurance.

"They want us to quit smoking, but they want the tax too! They can't have both, so it is kind of ironic,” laughs Minnich.

Riegel's says it's noticed a sharp increase in tobacco products sales during March, as consumers try to beat the tax man. Again, this is a federal hike, which is one of the first measures signed into law by President Obama.