Yes,they do love our tax money. Especially the sales taxes on the excise taxes that they keep raising!
Gary K. ASP-ILL
WE SMOKE AND WE VOTE AND WE ARE MAD AS HELL

TAXES

Since 2001, 44 states have increased tobacco taxes, and proposals to increase the federal excise tax on cigarettes, currently 39 cents per pack, are constantly being considered by Congress. Enough is enough!

Federal, state and local governments have a virtual monopoly on tobacco profits. The government makes more money from the sale of cigarettes than anyone else, including manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. In fact, the government profit per pack of cigarettes sold in the United States was $2.09, or 52 percent of the cost of the average pack. This represents nearly 9 times the per pack profit made by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (24 cents).

In 2006, U.S. smokers paid the following amounts in tobacco taxes and settlement payments:

$1,031.61 per second
$61,896.34 per minute
$3,713,780.52 per hour
$89,130,732.38 per day
$32,555,000,000.00 for the year(that is 32 billion dollars)




Tobacco Taxes and Payments for Illinois

Illinois' excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.980
Illinois' excise tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2006: $643,743,000


Sales tax on tobacco products: 6.25%
Tobacco products sales tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2006: $189,181,000

Note: Sales tax on the state excise tax and is about $45,000,000.

Sales tax on federal excise tax is about $18,000,000.



About $63,000,000 from a tax on their taxes!!!

Local tax on tobacco products: $217,538,754


Master Settlement Agreement Payments Received

$2,169,789,061 has been paid to Illinois through Fiscal Year 2006 since the Master Settlement Agreement was signed on November 23, 1998.

That is about $271,000,000 per year.

TOTAL Amount Illinois smokers paid to state in 2006 = $1,321,685,387

We are all angry.

I wonder what the figures would be if everyone just rolled/made their own smokes for a month or two?

That is why I feel we need members willing to sacrifice for a short time. The revenue shortfall would be passed somewhere else. It probably would be an eye opener to many.

quote:

I wonder what the figures would be if everyone just rolled/made their own smokes for a month or two?

Nationwide, the shortfall from everyone RYO/MYO would be $2.67 billion per month.

In Illinois the shortfall from everyone MYO/RYO would be $101,668,000 per month or $3,621,056 per day!!

Lovely idea,
Gary K.

I've been MYO for awhile, and I can say I would never switch back to pre-mades.

Screwing these jerks out of the extra taxes is just the icing on the cake.

And what does the state of Illinois do with the money?

What would be the taxes on the drugs used to replace our habit? I am not taking about gum, patches, or pills, I am talking about the ADHD, antidepressants, and diet medications? What would the taxes be on these? Which method works best?

How many of us really question what government is our spending money on?

Taxes are always discussed in general terms, there is little discussion of what is being funded. How many of the nation's children are currently funded by government, at what cost per child? How many two parent families get any such subsidy to feed, cloth, and shelter their own children?

Maine solved the problem of explaining where tax money goes. It goes into a general fund that can be used for anything with no accountability. When it gets low they just add more fees for things or raise the fees and or taxes to get more money to spend.

quote:

What would be the taxes on the drugs used to replace our habit? I am not taking about gum, patches, or pills, I am talking about the ADHD, antidepressants, and diet medications? What would the taxes be on these? Which method works best?

Illinois money goes into 'General Fund' also.

In Illinois there are no excise(so called-sin) taxes on any drugs or medications.

AS for diets and Nicotine Replacement Therapy(NRT)programs and drugs, none of them work very well.

Especially weight stuff,weight is mostly genetic and will eventually go back to what the body feels is best for you.

Funny( )thing about pricing on the NRT's,it is called 'parity pricing'.

When cigarettes sold for $1/pack, NRT stuff sold for $1 for an amount equal to one pack of cigarettes.

Now that,due to taxes and MSA, cigarettes cost $5/pack the price of NRT stuff has also gone to $5 per equal amount.

That is $4 pure profit for the drug companies per pack equivalent!!!

Seems that they do not really want to make it economical for smokers to try quitting.

Gary K.
ASP-ILL
WE SMOKE-WE VOTE- WE ARE MAD AS HELL!!