MINNEAPOLIS -- Last year, 12 state legislatures considered bills that would have assessed a tax on electronic cigarettes and/or the nicotine liquid solution used in electronic cigarettes. Only North Carolina enacted a new tax equal to five cents per milliliter of nicotine solution.
During January of this year, eight bills have been introduced in eight state legislatures to assess a tax on e-cigarettes or the nicotine liquid solution used in e-cigarettes. These proposed tax bills include the following:
Arkansas: House Bill 1156 would assess a tax of 7.5 cents per milliliter of nicotine liquid solution.
Indiana: Senate Bill 384 would tax e-cigarette vapor products at a rate of .83 cents per milligram of nicotine in each milliliter of nicotine liquid solution.
Nevada: Senate Bill 79 assesses a tax on nicotine liquid solution at the rate of 30% of the wholesale price.
New Mexico: Senate Bill 65 taxes a tax of four cents per milligram of liquid nicotine liquid solution in an electronic cigarette.
New York: Assembly Bill 296 and Senate Bill 722 tax electronic cigarettes and electronic cigarette cartridges at a rate of 75% of the wholesale price.
Oregon: Two bills, D1037 and D2268, would expand the definition of tobacco product for purposes of taxation to include electronic cigarettes and nicotine liquid solution in order to apply the state’s tobacco tax rate of 65% of the wholesale price.
Virginia: House Bill 1310 imposes a tax on electronic cigarettes and other vapor products at a rate of 40 cents per milliliter of nicotine liquid solution.
Washington: House Bill 1645 and Senate Bill 5573 would impose a tax on electronic vapor products at a rate of 95% of the taxable sales price.
With many state legislative sessions just beginning this month, plus four state legislatures that open their 2015 legislative sessions in the next month or two, there could be bills introduced in other states to propose a tax on electronic cigarettes or the nicotine liquid solution used in electronic cigarettes.
Currently, only Minnesota and North Carolina tax the sale of electronic cigarettes with Minnesota assessing a tax rate of 95% of the wholesale price and North Carolina assessing a tax rate of five cents per milliliter of liquid nicotine solution.
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