WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Dawn Carlson, president of the Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores of Iowa, is taking a stand against a proposed increase in the federal tobacco tax. She predicted that with another hike in the price of a pack of smokes, there will be even more attempts to steal cigarettes, and that creates safety concerns for convenience store employees.
Our main concern is to make sure that these individuals are operating and working in a safe environment, so that adds more expense for our businesses, Carlson told RadioIowa. She predicted [image-nocss] that stores will have to hire more staff, increase security measures and install more security cameras if the cigarette tax goes even higher.
Tobacco products account for one-third of the items sold in c-stores, and Carlson said the channel has taken a hit since the state cigarette tax increased by a dollar a pack in mid-March. Adding another 61 cents on top of that in increased federal taxes, as some officials propose, would dampen sales even more and decrease tax revenue, according to Carlson.
They're going to see the impact of that, and it's not going to be good, she added.
Reports indicate Iowa tobacco tax receipts paid into the state treasury were up 157% in the month of June, said the report. Iowa's cigarette tax went up by $1 a pack in March.
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