Canadian Federal Government budget to include major tax hike for cigars

[Cigar Surgeon]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/11/federal-budget-unveils-major-tax-hike-for-smokers-that-will-see-jump-in-cost-of-cigarettes-tobacco-and-cigars/

All this will do is drive more contraband cigar shipments and smuggling.

[Maplepie]

I'm not worried about myself as i haven't bought a cigar at B&M prices for over a month.

But the thing is the quaint tobaccoists around the corner will suffer. and that's really what i'm worried about as i do enjoy their companies and i try to support them as much as i can by getting my cutters, lighters, etc from them

[Maplepie]

Also:

"The Governor-General is paying more taxes: The only person in the country exempted from customs tariffs will lose that privilege. Last year, the government decided it was time the Governor-General also paid income taxes, and a pay raise to offset the loss in income."

What. The. ****. There was actually scripted debate over this. As in: people actually talked about this on the floor for more than a week...

You're gonna tax him so he gives more money to the government and then increase his salary so you just manage to negate that effect. On top of that, you just created a tax folder for some meathead mouth-breathers to mull over and unnecessary work for the G-G to do when he could easily be doing something else.

[Philprop]

Ahhhh, life with Harper as PM. Could it get any better?

[srbbones]

But Crack pipes are 25 cents at vending machines

[Fosgate]

I hate getting lumped in with cig smokers and dippers.

[AussieCanuck]

Also:

"The Governor-General is paying more taxes: The only person in the country exempted from customs tariffs will lose that privilege. Last year, the government decided it was time the Governor-General also paid income taxes, and a pay raise to offset the loss in income."

What. The. ****. There was actually scripted debate over this. As in: people actually talked about this on the floor for more than a week...

You're gonna tax him so he gives more money to the government and then increase his salary so you just manage to negate that effect. On top of that, you just created a tax folder for some meathead mouth-breathers to mull over and unnecessary work for the G-G to do when he could easily be doing something else.

Just out of a matter of interest...the GG is the Queens representative right ? So who pays the salary, the people of Canada or the Queen ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Maplepie]

Just out of a matter of interest...the GG is the Queens representative right ? So who pays the salary, the people of Canada or the Queen ?

we pay for the governor general's office as well as public representation. we also contribute MORE to the crown than the Brits. we do have half their population but pay 20% more per person to sustain the Queen.

wonder how the Aussies are doing at this actually?

[canadianbeaver]

Whoever wrote that article must have a serious writing and comprehension problem. First, they repeat over and over about the price increase for 200 cigarette sticks as if they are different things, but they are the same thing:

"The excise duty on a pack of cigarettes will increase by about $4 per carton of 200 cigarettes, to $21.03 from the current $17, an increase of about 24 per cent. "

Then, they tell about the tax increase on cigars:

"Also, the excise duty on cigars will increase to $22.89 per1,000 cigars, from the current $18.50, and the additional cigar duty will also increase."

A thousand cigars? Oh no!!

Last,

"Taxing tobacco products at a sustainable level is an important element of the government’s health strategy to discourage smoking among Canadians" the budget says.

Even Canadians with the lowest incomes somehow manage to find money for smokes. We were talking about this the other day. A pack a day could yield about let's say $4 in tax. 30 days a month. $120.

$1440/year.

50 years average pp

$72,000

You going to tell me our government is going to give that up?

[Maplepie]

Even Canadians with the lowest incomes somehow manage to find money for smokes. We were talking about this the other day. A pack a day could yield about let's say $4 in tax. 30 days a month. $120.

$1440/year.

50 years average pp

$72,000

You going to tell me our government is going to give that up?

Of course not. we all know it's just bullshit. but it's pandering bullshit. just like that senator's statement in the policy. that's abso-*******-lutely bullshit. But again, it's pandering bullshit. for some reason, there's a weird injection of anti-smoking campaigns from an anonymous (to the general public) source. again: pandering bullshit, [Note: i do like your statistical breakdown of the evidence though]

Just take a look at this ad campaign that was kickstarted a while back (and is only being pressed on recently):

Why does this exist, why do my tax dollars go towards this, and who is actually being influenced by this illogical dribble.

[OZCUBAN]

Welcome to the club people,tax on tobacco goes up at least once a year here in OZ ,booze will be next

The nanny state is a global sickness ,interesting to see what tobacco is in the states

Cheers

[Fosgate]

They will never make me quit cigars. I smoked cigs for 13yrs and hated it every time I lit up and felt like a slave to it. I quit twice for a year at a time in the past. When they finally increased the price of a pack of smokes by near double combined with the concern from my then fiance's daughter, I quit cold turkey for four years. When I spit with her last summer part of my coping was around a group of friends having deep conversations while enjoying a cigar. I love it, I'm not a slave to a cigar and can smoke one or not at my choosing and it pisses me off every time cigars get lumped with these taxes targeting cig smokers. They say they are trying to help people quit but are they really? It's ok to humiliate a smoker in public and tax the tobacco users because people say "Well I don't use it and it's better for their health besides why should I pay for their health care so I'm fine with taxing them rather than increasing my property tax." (Note they always bait people into voting for these tax increases by saying it's either this or everyones property tax?) Anyway just wait, fat people are next.

[Cigar Surgeon]

"Also, the excise duty on cigars will increase to $22.89 per1,000 cigars, from the current $18.50, and the additional cigar duty will also increase."

The excise and duty rates are multiplicative, not additive. An increase from $18.50 to $22.89 results in a 23.7% increase in duties by the end of the calculations. It's expressed as a multiple of 1,000 cigars to make you think it's an insignificant amount.

When a BRC is $42 in a store, an increase of another 23.7% in duty is a big amount.

This has a big impact on the consumer and it obviously significantly impacts B&M owners.

[Maplepie]

When a BRC is $42 in a store, an increase of another 23.7% in duty is a big amount.

eer- john? you might wanna check your keyboard. i think you missed a word when typing:

When a ___ of BRCs is $42. surely you don't mean a standard cheap robusto is $42, right!?

[Cigar Surgeon]

eer- john? you might wanna check your keyboard. i think you missed a word when typing:

When a ___ of BRCs is $42. surely you don't mean a standard cheap robusto is $42, right!?

The price range I've seen for a single BRC in a B&M ranges between $34 and $42. This is not all due to excise and duty tax, but it is absolutely a factor in the pricing.

I regularly see Opus X for $88+.

Obviously like most cigar smokers I don't buy my cigars retail, because I don't own a Lamborghini and a private jet.

[Guest rob]

A single, unbanded Cohiba Siglo 6 will cost about $70 here in Australia (in a B&M). It was only a few months ago the Australian $ was buying more than 1$.

[Cigar Surgeon]

eer- john? you might wanna check your keyboard. i think you missed a word when typing:

When a ___ of BRCs is $42. surely you don't mean a standard cheap robusto is $42, right!?

In case you're wondering how the math works on that. Let's say a BRC is $8.50.

$8.50 * 1.67 (Federal tax) = $14.195 * 1.3 (Taxable price) = $18.4535. + 103% (to a maximum of $6.27 in Alberta) gives you $24.72.

Now unfortunately you forgot to take into account that you paid US dollars, so that's $24.72 - $8.50 = $16.22 US (*1.12) or $18.17 owing in Canadian duties and excise taxes resulting in a total cost to you of $27.69 Canadian assuming no markups by the retailer.

[canadianbeaver]

Thank you Avrus, I guess I did not get that part.

[Cigar Surgeon]

Thank you Avrus, I guess I did not get that part.

Sneaky gubbmint is sneaky. I notice they haven't bothered to release the details on any of the .GOV sites. I'd love to read it over in detail to see just what the impacts are.

I'm told there's been a mad dash in cigarette purchasing today.

[DrunkenMonkey]

My brother likes to say that democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to have for lunch. As long as the liberties of minorities are subject to the electoral whim of the majority, who do you imagine will get stuck with the taxes? This is shameful. I'm so sorry for all you Canadians. If it's any comfort, I think we're all going to end up in the same stupid boat before long.

[Tan1801]

Welcome to the club people,tax on tobacco goes up at least once a year here in OZ ,booze will be next

The nanny state is a global sickness ,interesting to see what tobacco is in the states

Cheers

Actually it used to go up twice a year didn't it. I think it still is twice a year now, but with a larger increase to meet that stupid 400% increase in 5 years (or whatever ridiculous BS it was). I've given up on following the tax increases here.

I am interested to see what happens to alcohol though, both locally and internationally. Whilst the parallels to tobacco are there, I think it's different enough that it will be treated as a slightly different beast.

[Rye]

This is another blow. Someone please get Harper hooked on good cigars!

If successful, please share the diplomatic Cohiba Lanceros

[Maplepie]

Now unfortunately you forgot to take into account that you paid US dollars, so that's $24.72 - $8.50 = $16.22 US (*1.12) or $18.17 owing in Canadian duties and excise taxes resulting in a total cost to you of $27.69 Canadian assuming no markups by the retailer.

Thanks to you and Canadian Beaver for the time for a financial dissection Really helps to see what and how it affects it specifically...

But in other words: we all get cigars at MORE than half the price than B&Ms -the organisations that are supposed to profit off these- do!?

[canadianbeaver]

Not sure if this is relevant but has anyone noticed that duty free is no bargain any more? And in some places, like my recent trip to Italy, the prices were higher than our liquor stores here? What's with that?i thought they were supposed to be, you know, ...

[puromaniac]

Thanks, Harper, even more of a reason to buy cigars in Cuba now. Don't think this gets my vote, though.