The calls to action for vape tax alerts have been popping out like chinchillas. I’m no expert, and normally a little behind the curve on current events, so I did a few searches to try and enlighten myself. I thought I’d share a couple of links, make a few comments, and see if it’s worthy of discussion, or if it just sinks into thread never never land.
Master Settlement Agreement payments, from tobacco companies by state:
Actual Tobacco Settlement Payments Received by the States (in millions)
Look up your state. I’ll use mine. Michigan received $256 million in 2017, from BT. If just 1 person in 20 (5%) switch from smoking to vaping (or just quit) that’s a 5% loss in MSA payment. That’s almost $13 million less MSA money coming in (for my particular state).
Now, from another site, I found this info about state’s ‘Tobacco Bonds’.
The Burning Truth About Tobacco Bonds
I was always under the assumption that the MSA payments to the states were tied to the Tobacco companies profits. Not so! It’s actually tied to the number of cigarettes shipped!
Ok, Tobacco companies sell ‘less’ cigarettes, so their profits must go down. Not so again! They just raise the price. In fact, their profits seem to be up! Selling less, but making more profits. I bet they’re laughing, as they hand out the bonus checks.
The states aren’t as fortunate. It appears the states couldn’t wait to get their greedy booger hooks on the money and sold bonds, against projected MSA payments they didn’t have yet. A drop in the MSA payments, due to less cigarettes shipped, means the states can’t make their payments.
Any wonder that the states are bringing down the vape tax hammer?
Anyway. I cannot vouch for the reputation, agenda, or moral standing of the two sites above. I know nothing about them. They just popped up in my search for more info.
I found the info somewhat enlightening.