Here’s a link with the newly revised SCHIP tax schedule that the House of Reps just released today. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it, these people are so out of control and FOS it boggles the mind. As tobacco consumers and many of us ex and/or current smokers, we need to get in touch with our Senators. The ramifications of this bill will prove tragic for the tobacco industry and all users alike, regardless if you don’t smoke cigarettes. This bill could prove bankruptcy for many a US tobacco retailer. Check this link out for the gory details: SCHIP Tax Revision While your at it, check out Little Browns price and selection on snus and snuff. They carry both Levi and Stokers along with several ‘twists’. They also carry a wide selection of premium cigars at prices that can’t be beat!
Yes, Lil Brown is a good tobacco shop. Its where I get my Levi snuff & Stoker’s loose leaf chew. I usually get orders in 2 days from them. The SCHIP last year got vetoed by Bush and the House fell 13 votes short of overturning the veto. Here is a good commercial for SCHIP: SCHIP Commercial Here are 2 videos I posted on last years SCHIP debate. They are a year old but still worth watching. Glenn Beck on SCHIP Rocky Patel from Rocky Patel Cigars on SCHIP
The point of this last minute “revision” for taxing pipe and cigarette tobaccos by +/-$12 per lb and +/-$25 per lb respectively is to drive retailers out of business. There’s a floor tax that will be assessed on their stock at these rates due 04/01/09! Any shop will have to have this unexpected money available to keep their stock ‘legal’. The already outrageous SCHIP tax was $8.69 per lb, this is an attempt to kill the smaller retailers and is fully supported by Big Tobacco.
OUCH!
Umm, a large unexpected tax due immediately that wasn’t budgeted or planned for on stock that will questionably sell at grossly inflated prices. For example, the same lb of baccy that now sells for $15.00lb will be at least $41.00lb RYO and $27.00lb for pipes. The majority of the customer base in the case of RYO is people looking to save $$, now triple the price and see how quick that tobacco moves! Keep in mind, these are prices before the state get’s their greedy fingers on the tax frenzy. Also keep in mind, the retailers involved are a lot of mom&pop shops that are operating on a small margin to begin with to remain competitive! If they’re successful with this, think what they’ll do with whatever other markets they deem inappropriate. Could be the other forms of tobacco, caffeine, fast food, alcohol etc, the list goes on.
For the record, the pipe tax submitted has also been lowered along with the cigar taxes to a relatively modest level. The sore thumb of the SCHIP bill remains RYO tobacco. Good points bigblue, but I disagree on the notion that this isn’t intended to put the hurt on RYO intentionally. It’s been long rumored in the RYO industry that Big Tobacco, with their failed ventures in the RYO market (you’ve got to see some of their contraptions to believe them) is in bed with the govt regarding RYO and has been looking for an industry killer like this. Big Tobacco can afford all of this and just passes it’s expenses on to the consumer, which the RYO market will have to follow suit. However, the “floor tax” is on existing stock that was purchased before knowledge of this increase and therefore not budgeted for. This is how this revision is intended to level the RYO vendors, many will simply fold if this is approved.
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Thanks, yep, that’s why I revised the first post from a graph I saw last night to the one two posts above stating “relatively modest level”. This tax will be easily taken in stride, however the RYO tax of $26lb seems a bit out of the ordinary. I guess the lawmakers can do as they please with no repercussions, they just write it into law! The sheer lopsided nature of these tax schedules is suspect.
Well… if all else fails I guess the queen will welcome you all back… 
The sheer lopsidedness may work to our advantage as the bill will be harder to pass.
maybe if were lucky Obama will veto (he just recently quit smoking when he ran for office) being an ex-smoker but then again he’s pro tax the shit out of everything so we’ll see. i have to agree though i don’t think this is gonna be one of those things a couple million emails or letters is gonna stop.
Unfortunately he’s on record for supporting SCHIP. Like Juxtaposer say’s though, they might have asked for too much at once, guess that’s the last hope anyways. Think about it, the current tax is $1.09 per lb, they’re demanding it be raised to $26.00! If that’s not a ridiculous jump, no other tobacco’s tax is going up nearly that much and fortunately for us (at least I think snuff is classified with chew) the tax will remain negligible.
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The pipe tobacco tax is only supposed to be +/-$2.80, that preliminary figure was wrong. RYO is taking the brunt of the beating here at about $25.00lb. The empty tubes are also being subject to some ridiculous tobacco related tax now too, along with rolling papers. You can get RYO for about $15lb but you get what you pay for.
At Li’l Brown Smoke Shack, Americans can buy Three Castles Golden Virginia in the 3 oz pouch for $3.60 per each or 5 for $17.35 - almost a pound. Not a bad price for, imho an imported, ultra premium RYO tobacco. Maybe I should lay in a couple pounds as a hedge.
A rough estimate: I usually turn one 50 gram pack of rolling tobacco into exactly 50 smokes.1 gram per smoke , 20 in a pack , that’s 0.7 oz I usually roll my cigarettes such that they’re the exact same length as a marlboro. My lungs and watch agree (it takes me the same amount of time to smoke it).
Agreed, it’s about 1 gram per ks smoke.
Those numbers are hugely in favor of Big Tobacco when you consider the gap that was so wide has just been effectively closed. Right now, a pack of high quality RYO cigarettes costs about $1. Misery loves company and now there’s no reason to consider RYO. With RYO, you smoke better tobacco, cheaper. Now the government has wrecked a free market competition and put RYO in the same price tier as premades. One thing you also have to consider is the number of people who will go back to premades for convenience, all things being equal. RYO loses, Big Tobacco wins because RYO loses. Big Tobacco is happy.
RYO was always part of the free market and competitive with other free market goods, not to mention profitable, like most things still are in the US. Big Tobacco was operating in a FUBAR economical system which RYO is now joining. You mean now that RYO will no longer be in a free market competitive system, all is now fair. RYO standing on it’s own as an arguably more expensive product, one that will lose much appeal and most likely a lot of variety, might stand on it’s own, but nowhere near as it is now. You can see how govt runs a country, and how they run business in the ground before, which is what they are gonna do by fleecing it unfairly. No business model is safeguarded against outrageous and prejudicial taxes of 2400%. Name a business that could survive that, or should have to…