Indiana’s cigarette tax tripled on July 1.
Indiana lawmakers earlier this year approved an increase in the state’s tobacco taxes to help plug a $2 billion budget shortfall. Gov. Mike Braun signed off on raising the cigarette tax by $2 a pack and the 200% bump went into effect.
How much did the price of cigarettes increase in Indiana?
The state’s cigarette taxes rose from about $1 to $3 a pack. Taxes on other tobacco products, such as cigars and e-cigarettes, also increased.
How much money will the cigarette tax increase raise the price?
Legislative leaders, when unveiling the tax increase in the final days of the session, said they expect it to raise roughly $800 million over the two-year budget cycle, helping fund the state’s Medicaid costs.
“Along with revenue comes a really pretty good public policy that was going to help persuade people to either not start smoking or stop smoking at the same time,” Indiana Sen. Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said in April.
Cigarette prices in neighboring states
With the tax increasing in Indiana from just under $1 a pack to nearly $3 a pack, the Hoosier State now has the 12th highest state cigarette tax in the country and a higher rate than any of the states that touch its borders.
According to advocacy groups like the American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids prices per pack are:
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com:@cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana cigarette tax just tripled. How much are tobacco taxes now?
Reporting by Cheryl V. Jackson and Brittany Carloni, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
