Florida Might Tax Non-Settlement Cigarettes

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 01/01/2011

Almost 100 Florida-based employees of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co went to Tallahassee yesterday to support a bill that would impose a levy on tobacco companies that were not part of the Master Settlement Agreement and that do not make settlement payments to the state. The Reynolds employees were supporting Citizens for Fairness in Florida (CFF), according to a note placed on the company's website. "CFF is a coalition of individuals, retailers, manufacturers, health care advocates and state-wide organizations, working to ensure that all cigarette companies are treated equally in the state," the note said. "R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is a member of the coalition." Tobacco companies that signed the settlement pay more than $350 million a year to the state: in total more than $6 billion since 1998. Tobacco companies that were not part of the agreement pay nothing in the form of settlement payments to the state. "It's an issue of fairness," said Andrea Garrison of Orlando and an employee of R.J. Reynolds. "Our employees live, work and pay taxes in Florida, too. Our jobs matter just as much as others'." The bill would place an assessment of $0.52 per pack on cigarettes sold by tobacco companies that were not part of the 1997 agreement, an amount that would generate about $50 million annually. Enditem