NC tobacco tax totals turn down

North Carolina, USA, is catching up with a lot of other American states in collecting less tax revenue on cigarettes and other forms of tobacco.

In the first nine months of fiscal 2013, which began in July, state revenue collections were $190 million, down 6 percent from the $202 million that came in during a comparable period in 2011.

The state puts a 45-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes and a 12.8 percent tax on other tobacco products, according to a story in The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area.

The revenue collection figures are considered a good measure of consumption trends. North Carolina saw its tobacco revenue jump by 2.2 percent in fiscal 2012, which ended last June, Meanwhile, across the country during those same 12 months, the 50-state tobacco collection figure was dropping by nearly 1 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The federal government, which also collected fewer tobacco taxes in its fiscal 2012, credited anti-smoking programs for the decline.

If Congress ultimately agrees with the Obama administration’s plan to slap an extra 94 cents in taxes on a pack, expect revenue collections to continue downward.