While U.S. cigarette smoking rates are falling, the number of Americans who vape is on the rise. And as Bloomberg reports, Louisiana is among just four states that have enacted laws to collect taxes on e-cigarettes and vaping devices. But more states are considering new taxes to bolster their coffers.
After peaking at $17.1 billion in 2011, state cigarette tax receipts fell to $16.3 billion in 2014, according to a report from the Orzechowski & Walker market research firm posted by the Federation of Tax Administrators. The e-cigarette and vapor market, meanwhile, is expected to more than triple between 2015 and 2019 to $15.9 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Along with Louisiana, Kansas, Minnesota and North Carolina and a number of cities including Washington and Chicago have approved taxes on vaping products and e-cigarettes. At least 23 states have considered such measures, according to the Tax Foundation, a policy research organization in Washington, and its March analysis didn’t include Utah, where lawmakers considered and dropped a bill, or West Virginia.
“It does provide revenue when the state needs that increase,” says Chris Stadelman, a spokesman for Democratic West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, who proposed the measure to fill a $270 million budget gap. “There’s also a health aspect, especially for young people, to discourage use.”
