On Tuesday, a group led by historic Chicago cigar retailer Iwan Ries & Co. filed a legal challenge to the city of Chicago’s pending tobacco tax increase, asserting that the increase is in violation of state law. The store is joined by the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), the Cigar Association of America (CAA), the Illinois Association of Wholesale Distributors, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR), and Arangold Corporation–which is better known as Arango Cigar Co. According to a statement issued by NATO, the group claims that the new tax on other tobacco products (OTP) is pre-empted by Illinois state law, which says that a home rule charter city can adopt a tax on cigarettes or tobacco products provided that the city adopted such a tax on cigarettes or tobacco products prior to July 1, 1993. The City of Chicago enacted a cigarette tax before July 1, 1993, but not an OTP tax, which in the group’s opinion prevents them from being able to adopt an OTP tax. The city’s tax increase, set to go into effect on July 1, tacks on 20 cents per large cigar and little cigar, $1.80 per ounce of smokeless tobacco ...
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