W.Va. Senate passes tax on rolled cigarettes
CHARLESTON (AP) — West Virginia would tax fresh-rolled cigarettes at the same rate as a pack of cigarettes.
The Senate passed a bill Monday to apply the 55 cent tax to ‘roll your own’ cigarettes rolled at retail shops. Currently smokers pay a 7 percent tax on the wholesale value of loose tobacco, which is less than the cigarette tax.
Retail shops would be considered a cigarette manufacturer under the bill.
The tax department estimates the change will generate about $500,000 to $750,000 in revenue a year. Individually rolled cigarettes make up about 2 percent of tobacco sales in West Virginia.
Orphy Klempa, an Ohio County Democrat, was the lone senator to vote against the bill. He says he opposes any tax on vices like alcohol or tobacco.
