Cigars About to Get More Expensive in Alabama?

Alabama HB 277, which relates to the taxation of tobacco products, has been signed into law as Chapter 425. According to the new law, a tax is levied on cigar wrappers.

§40-25-2.1 now reads:

"(1) CIGAR WRAP. An individual tobacco wrapper that is made wholly or in part from tobacco, including reconstituted tobacco, whether in the form of tobacco leaf, sheet, or tube, if the wrap is designed to be offered to or purchased by a consumer.

(a) There is hereby levied a tax upon all cigar wrappers manufactured using tobacco sold at wholesale in this state or imported into this state for use, consumption, or sale at retail. The tax shall be levied upon each package in the following amounts:

• Weighing not more than one and one-eighth ounces, four cents ($.04);
• Over one and one-eighth ounces, not exceeding two ounces, ten cents ($.10);
• Over two ounces, not exceeding three ounces, sixteen cents ($.16);
• Over three ounces, not exceeding four ounces, twenty-one cents ($.21); and
• Six cents ($.06) additional tax for each ounce or fractional part thereof over four ounces.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to a cigar manufacturer using wrappers made from tobacco applying those wrappers on a finished cigar for sale at retail."

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