The New England States That Smuggle The Most Tobacco
Monday, December 23, 2013
According to a study on tobacco taxation and sales, there is a growing trend in bootlegged cigarette sales across the United States. As tobacco taxes rise in many states, so does the incentive to import cigarettes from neighboring states with lower taxes for resale.
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The Michigan-based, conservative-leaning Mackinac Center has researched tobacco smuggling in the contiguous United States every two years since 2008. The latest study released this year includes data from 2011.
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See which New England states have the highest percentage of "black market" cigarette sales in the slides below.
Related Slideshow: Black Market Cigarettes in New England
Scholars at Michigan's Mackinac Center for Public Policy have analyzed tobacco sales data to estimate smuggling rates for each state.
The report uses 2011 data and finds that smuggling rates generally rise in states after they adopt large cigarette tax increases. Smuggling rates have dropped in some states, however, often where neighboring states have higher cigarette tax rates.
This means that people are buying cigarettes in lower-taxed states legally, and bringing them into nearby higher-taxed states to sell at a lower price with higher profits.
See which New England states have the highest percentage of smuggled cigarettes in the slides below:
Source: Mackinac Center for Public Policy; Tax Foundation.
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