New York is begging for a black-market cigar industry

In an attempt to close New York state’s $4.4 billion budget deficit, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a package of $1 billion in tax hikes and fee increases as part of his 2018-2019 Executive Budget unveiled in January.

Among the list of “revenue raisers” is a proposal to change the formula for the way state excise taxes on cigars are calculated. The new rules would make the cigar taxes based on invoice costs instead of manufacturing costs, beginning on Sept. 1. If passed, this would raise state cigar taxes from the industry standard of 28.5 percent to 75 percent.

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