Texas could add tax on e-cigs and vape products

[freemexy]

Texas could add tax on e-cigs and vape products to try to prevent minors from using them

A Houston-area legislator this week hopes to persuade Texas House colleagues to approve a 10% state retail excise tax on vape wholesale supply and vape tobacco products.
If the tax passes into law — GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has not aired a position on it — the added cost to consumers would range from $1 to $5 per purchase, per retail prices listed this week on ElectricTobacconist.com.
House Bill 4013 from Republican Rep. Rick Miller of Sugar Land ranks among dozens of measures stacked up on the House's floor calendar that by the body's rules must win initial approval by midnight Thursday to survive.
Miller's legislation is a companion to a Senate measure instigated by Stephen Love, CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. Love said he approached Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, after Johnson's election in November to talk about making it harder for minors to afford e-cigs.If approved in time, the bill is projected to net the state an additional $16.6 million in its first year, fiscal year 2020, and more than $20 million a year starting in September 2021, according to its fiscal note. The legislation calls for the revenue to help fund public schools.
The bill further calls for the state comptroller to certify programs to train vendors about not selling to minors, a provision matching existing requirements for stores selling tobacco products. Also, the agency may fine a retailer or suspend or revoke its sales tax permit if it fails to supervise and train employees to prevent selling e-cig and vape sales to minors, the bill says.
Miller, a retired military officer, said Tuesday he decided to call for the tax because e-cigs and vapes, powered devices that deliver varying levels of nicotine, have surged in popularity among vulnerable young Texans.I looked at the health risks, the epidemic that’s occurring in that age group, the young person who is 18 or under,” Miller said. “It’s fairly easy for them to get, evidently — lack of ID check or whatever. And then when you look at the product itself, it’s dangerous to the health of the individual.”
Texas could prove the nation’s first state to tax e-cig and vape products on a percentage of retail price. Of nine states that have started taxing the products, some tax the wholesale price while others levy a tax based on the milliliters of liquid in each item, according to a breakdown by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Johnson filed his version of the e-cig tax bill in February before enlisting Miller to file his bill in the House, where tax measures must originate.
"We wanted to make sure the sale of e-cigs to minors are regulated in the same manner that cigarettes are regulated,” Johnson said — as nicotine delivery devices.
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