Wisconsin to Increase Tax on All Tobacco Products..

November 13, 2007 - The Wisconsin state legislature approved a two-year, $57.2 billion budget, which Governor Jim Doyle signed on Friday, October 19, 2007. The budget includes a $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase and an increase in the tax on other tobacco products (OTP) from 25% to 50% of the wholesale price, said the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) in an E-News Bulletin. There is a cap of 50 cents per large cigar, and moist snuff will be taxed at a rate of $1.31 per ounce. The current cigarette tax in Wisconsin is 77 cents per pack. Wisconsin had been one of only seven states that had not increased its cigarette tax in recent years, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The governor had proposed a $1.25-per-pack cigarette tax increase and a 65.6% OTP tax rate. Smokeless tobacco products classified as "moist snuff" actually received an exemption from being taxed in the budget that was passed by the legislature but Gov. Doyle used his veto pen to remove this exemption from the budget he signed. The new tax rates will take effect on Jan. 1, 2008. A floor stocks tax will be assessed on cigarettes and moist snuff only, NATO said. Moist snuff will be taxed on a weight-based standard and not on an ad valorem basis - this is a win for United States Smokeless Tobacco, Inc. According to Doyle, the cigarette tax increase will reduce smoking rates, and it dedicates new funds to pay the cost of tobacco-related illness and invests $30 million in smoking prevention and cessation programs. See related news briefs: September 13, 2007 and April 1, 2007. Image - Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and Maureen Buscalacchi, Executive Director of Smoke Free Wisconsin. - Incomplete..