Sin taxes won’t resolve Pa.’s spending addiction

Contrary to the July 20 editorial “Cigar-tax Smokescreen,” cigars are not taxfree in Pennsylvania. Cigar smokers pay a sales tax — just as consumers pay on a number of items.

The question is not why Pennsylvania doesn’t tax cigars more, but why it needs to slap e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, gambling and a host of other products with special additional taxes.

Cigars may have won in the budget thanks to their powerful lobby, but what about the jobs that will be destroyed by the enormous 40 percent tax on e-cigarette shopkeepers? Is it worth putting Pennsylvanians out of work so Harrisburg lawmakers can send millions of dollars to their political allies?

That’s not an oversimplification. This year’s budget includes deals for a special tax break for Hollywood producers, a sales tax exemption for timbering and $1.5 million for a real estate developer in Allentown, Pa.

Meanwhile, local vape shops — and the jobs they create — will quietly disappear, and the state budget will once again show a deficit.

Sin taxes are the politically popular way to raise revenue, but they are unreliable and can’t solve Pennsylvania’s spending problems. Instead of looking at what we can tax, lawmakers should recognize that the real addiction isn’t cigarettes, it’s government spending.

ELIZABETH STELLE Director of Policy Analysis Commonwealth Foundation

Harrisburg