Georgia's 6.9% Tobacco Tax: Public Opinion Supports Increase

To date, the state of Georgia in the United States has one of the most attractive tax policies in the country for tobacco manufacturers. With a tax of $37 cents on cigarette packs with an average price of $5.30, it's hard to find a more attractive tax for manufacturers than 6.9%.

The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, an organization dedicated to analyzing proposed budgets and fiscal policies in the state of Georgia, conducted a survey[1], in the fall of 2019, and thus collected voters' opinions on the taxation of tobacco products. Analysis of the results shows that the majority of them were very happy with an increase in taxes on tobacco products.

Indeed, to the question "in order to increase public spending in the health and education sectors, would you support an increase in tobacco taxes?", 77.1% of respondents said they were in favor while 21.6% were against (1.3% abstained). Then, to the question "the State of Georgia is ranked 49th out of 50 in terms of tobacco taxation, do you think the State should raise the tax rate, at least to the national average?", 80.5% of respondents answered positively and 17.9% negatively (1.9% abstained).

These results are surprisingly very similar to those collected in 2018 in the state of Mississippi.[2] where the tax was $68 cents per pack of cigarettes.

What are the benefits of increasing taxes on tobacco products?

An increase in taxes almost necessarily leads to an increase in the selling prices of tobacco products and reduces their attractiveness to consumers. The sharp and steady increase in tobacco prices therefore helps reduce consumption. In this way, tax policies help limit government costs in terms of healthcare and productivity losses caused by smoking-related illnesses and deaths. Governments thus secure additional resources that can be reinvested in other sectors and guarantee long-term health progress.

©Generation Without Tobacco

[1] https://gbpi.org/2020/new-poll-georgians-support-strong-budget/

[2] https://www.yourethecure.org/ms_new_tobacco_tax_poll_2018

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