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Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em in South Carolina

By Eric Lipman

Via our old friend Tax Girl, I discovered that still-South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford vetoed a bill to increase the state tax on a pack of cigarettes by 50 cents. As discussed in Tax Girl's prior post on the issue, South Carolina currently tacks on only a measly seven cents per pack, lowest in the nation, as compared to the national average of $1.38. Rhode Island leads the league with an admittedly ridiculous sounding $3.46. You would think a state that brags on its license plates about its "Smiling Faces" might consider it prudent to try to reduce smoking by jacking up prices, but Sanford doesn't think the $125 million in Medicaid funding and $5 million toward cancer research are worthwhile goals unless there is a concomitant reduction in some other tax. I'm guessing his preference would be reducing the sales tax on hiking boots.

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on May 12, 2010 (boomark / email).