Good News For New Yorkers

[gweilgi]

Language that would have raised taxes on cigars in New York State, and caused prices to soar, was removed from the final version of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2019 Executive Budget. Lawmakers in Albany struck a deal on the budget early Saturday morning and the bill has since been delivered to the desk of Gov. Cuomo, who is expected to sign it into law.

While the original version of the budget did not raise the tax percentage of cigars, which is currently 75 percent of the wholesale price, it removed an “industry standard adjustment ratio” clause that allows retailers to charge a much lower rate of 28.5 percent. Saturday’s deal means cigar pricing will remain unchanged.

The section of the original 2018–2019 Executive Budget proposal that pertained to wholesale tobacco prices was intentionally omitted from a subsequent version published on March 13 and did not reappear in what would become the final version, which was substituted in on March 30.

Lawmakers were able to strike a deal on the budget less than 24 hours before the April 1 deadline. Gov. Cuomo praised the budget, calling it a “bold blueprint for progressive action,” despite many of his proposed revenue actions—including the altering of cigar taxes—being absent from the final version of the bill.

https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/new-york-nixes-cigar-tax-from-state-budget

[KRunch61]

No doubt our tax-and-spend governor has found countless other ways to bleed taxpayers.

[BarryNY]

Listen I hate our NY Cuomo-nist Governor as much as the next guy but pardon my French....what idiot buys cigars in NY?

Other than getting your Cubans from FOH - if you want non Cubans you get them mail order from PA.

For the random cigar you just have to buy at a lounge - well if it cost $1 more what's the big deal...

[SCgarman]

3 minutes ago, BarryNY said:

Listen I hate our NY Cuomo-nist Governor as much as the next guy but pardon my French....what idiot buys cigars in NY?

Other than getting your Cubans from FOH - if you want non Cubans you get them mail order from PA.

For the random cigar you just have to buy at a lounge - well if it cost $1 more what's the big deal...

X2. You won't find Cubans at your local tobacconist. And when I lived there I always ordered NC's from cigars international, famous smoke etc. Even with this latest "good" news, NYS still has one of the highest excise taxes on cigars in the nation. Best thing I ever did in life was leave NY and move to another lower taxed state with much nicer weather. (No offense to those who live there and love it). 

[Silverstix]

21 minutes ago, BarryNY said:

Listen I hate our NY Cuomo-nist Governor as much as the next guy but pardon my French....what idiot buys cigars in NY?

Other than getting your Cubans from FOH - if you want non Cubans you get them mail order from PA.

For the random cigar you just have to buy at a lounge - well if it cost $1 more what's the big deal...

X3 P.S. - Nice to see another Long Islander!!

[BrightonCorgi]

I thought Cuomo was Italian for "tax increase"?

[ElPuro]

Many ppl and biz are leaving NY. Going to start a vicious cycle a la Detroit of the past.

[Santiago]

Not a huge deal, as everyone has noted, but good news nonetheless 

[fitzy]

I agree with Barry however there are times when you want to try something new and just want to walk into a store and pick up a single or 2. It sucks paying $15 for a $10 stick. 

 

There's a 75% wholesale tax rate but there is also a workaround to lower that a bit. I'm not sure on all the details. 

[s1911]

One of the few smart things to happen in this stupid state ...must have been an accident.

[SCgarman]

5 hours ago, ElPuro said:

Many ppl and biz are leaving NY. Going to start a vicious cycle a la Detroit of the past.

This has been happening for decades. Mario Cuomo started running small business and workers out of the state to cheaper taxed neighboring states. Now his son Andrew is continuing the tradition. Pitiful. 

[SigmundChurchill]

It’s a good thing I don't buy the kind of cigars they sell in NY.

The wife and I went out to dinner on Labor Day out at our summer home, and I snapped this picture of the “esteemed” governor at a table on the patio outside our table.  He was eating dinner with Billy Joel.

 

[PapaDisco]

12 hours ago, BarryNY said:

Other than getting your Cubans from FOH - if you want non Cubans you get them mail order from PA.

One can order Cuban cigars from Pennsylvania??