Saturday, March 2, 2013

Chicagoland: $11 for a pack of smokes...

This is more likely to increase tobacco smuggling than revenue...
CHICAGO   •  Taxes on cigarettes sold in Cook County are going up by one dollar a pack.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says the tax, which takes effect Friday, is expected to generate more than $25 million annually for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System.
She says higher taxes also will help lower smoking rates, including by discouraging people from starting.

The price of a pack of cigarettes could be near $11 in Chicago, $6.67 of which is city, county and state taxes. Only New  York City -- at $6.86 in taxes -- slaps on higher taxes.

1 comment:

LYNNDH said...

So raise the taxes,to generate revenue, and decrease the rate of smoking, meaning fewer people smoke, thus reducing the amount of taxes raised. So when a program comes to depend on the collection of a tax and the amount goes down, another tax will have to be raised. Soooooooo very smart.