Criticism is mounting against a massive tax on vapor products that is bankrupting businesses across Pennsylvania and reducing product access for former smokers.
The Erie Times-News Editorial Board called on the Pennsylvania Legislature Wednesday to revisit the measure, which taxes all vapor products purchased from wholesalers at 40 percent. The tax has already “forced the closure” of more than a hundred family-owned vape shops since implementation last October, and others are beginning to buckle under the financial pressure.
Pennsylvania has so far collected $13.7 million in revenue from the vape tax, but critics note the tax is not economically sustainable, because annual revenue will diminish as more vape shops close their doors. The editorial board argues that, “no tax should be so burdensome as to force the closure of small businesses.”
“Ultimately, the vaping trade should be controlled and taxed in accordance with the harm and medical costs associated with it,” the Erie Times-News Editorial Board said in the article Wednesday. “In the meantime, the Legislature should adopt a reasonable, not crippling, tax on this emerging industry.”
Harm reduction experts agree that consumers should be given accurate information on the differential risk of alternative smoking technologies and that policies regulating these devices should reflect those distinctions.
A bill has long been under review in the state legislature that would replace the wholesale tax with the 5-cent-per-milliliter sales tax on liquid nicotine; however, vaping advocates in the state say there is currently little momentum for reform within the legislature. Meanwhile the tax continues to devastate the state’s once burgeoning vaping industry.
The tax is responsible for closing at least 120 stores since implementation, representing roughly 25 percent of all vaping businesses in the state. A survey recently conducted by the Pennsylvania Vaping Association of vape shop owners shows that another hundred stores are anticipating imminent closure if state lawmakers do not take action this year to overturn and replace the law.
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