CHICAGO -- Tobacco retailers in the Windy City will get a reprieve from a tobacco-products excise tax while litigation on the matter proceeds, according to a tobacco association.
The Illinois Circuit Court earlier this month issued two new orders on the matter, holding off implementation of the tax until 60 days after a final legal resolution of the matter, according to Minneapolis-based NATO. At the same time, the court gave Chicago officials a deadline of April 7, 2017, to appeal.
The taxes range from 20 cents per cigar to $1.80 per ounce of both smoking and smokeless tobacco.
The issue goes back to January when the court struck down the city’s adopted excise taxes on other tobacco products (OTP), ruling that the state’s tax pre-empted the city’s attempt to add its own tax.
NATO was one of several parties who initiated the original lawsuit last year, with others being the Cigar Association of America, Washington, D.C.; the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association, Washington, D.C.; the Illinois Association of Wholesale Distributors, Springfield, Ill.; the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Chicago; Arangold Corp. (Arango Cigar Co.), Northbrook, Ill.; and retailer Iwan Ries & Co., Chicago.
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