On March 12, according to foreign reports, in his state of the Union address in 2021, Jim justice, governor of West Virginia, promised to gradually update state income taxes. His proposals, which he submitted to the state legislature a few days ago, include raising the state electronic cigarette tax from 7.5 cents to 75 cents per milliliter of electronic liquid.
Under the proposal, a 100 ml bottle of wine will be taxed at $75, an increase of 1000%. The bill also raises the tax rate on a packet of flammable cigarettes by 80 cents, to $2 per 20 cigarettes.
At 75 cents per milliliter, a standard 30ml bottle of electronic liquid will be taxed at $22.50, which is 12.5% higher than the proposed tax on a whole cigarette (200 cigarettes) at the rate of $2 per pack.
According to the report, many e-cigarette shop owners and tobacco abatement advocates in West Virginia believe that many people will return to smoking or turn to the dangerous black market.
“We’re not going to be able to continue,” said Cheryl Lockhart, owner of hazy hollow vapors, a southern e-cigarette store in Charleston, West Virginia. No one will pay for it. The tax on the oil will exceed the cost of the oil itself. “
Most of Lockhart’s sales (up to 90%) are 100 milliliters of e-juice.
Another concern is that e-cigarette companies in West Virginia may turn to neighboring states such as Kentucky and Ohio to buy e-liquids and refuse to levy any taxes on steam products in the state. That’s what happened when Massachusetts increased its e-cigarette tax.
“No other state has an across the board total tax of more than 10 cents per milliliter, but governor justice and his team have concluded that 75 cents per milliliter is reasonable,” said Gregory Conley, President of the electronic cigarette Association of America. “Although they may think that this tax increase is only a ‘small’ part of their overall plan, it will infuriate many voters and make them believe that their elected officials prefer them to continue smoking.”
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