Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has made national headlines for his plans to lead the state on a “march to zero” income taxes, but during Thursday’s State of the State address and in the budget proposal released Friday morning, he revealed that he will attempt to fill the $648 million gap in the upcoming fiscal year that has been created by many of his cuts by raising taxes on tobacco and alcohol. Brownback has proposed an increase on the tax rate of tobacco products such as premium cigars from 10% to 25% of the wholesale price. That would mean that a cigar that has a MSRP of $9.50 would go from costing about $10.45 to $11.88, and that is before sales tax is added. The governor has also asked for an increase on the cigarette tax from $0.79 per pack to $2.29 and an increase on the liquor tax from 8% to 12%. The consumption tax increases on tobacco and alcohol are part of a number of proposals that the governor submitted, including softening existing tax rate reductions and freezing reductions if the state doesn’t have growth in future years.
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