Jump to full article: MLive blogs, 2009-08-01
Author: Posted by Brad Flory * Jackson Citizen Patriot
Intro: Back in April, the federal government slapped a huge tax increase on bulk tobacco, raising the tax from $1.10 to $24.78 a pound.
Few people would tolerate a 2,200-percent increase on any tax. Cigarette rollers must have weak lobbyists.
Thanks to this tax, the out-the-door price of tobacco jumped from about $20 to $45 a pound. But then a loophole was born.
Visit a tobacco store today and you will discover the roll-your-own crowd still buys for $20 a pound, with one slight difference.
Tobacco sold today is a little chunkier and it is labeled as pipe tobacco. Producers figured out the tax increase does not apply to pipe tobacco, so that's what they call it now.
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