The more time passes, the more complicated the vaping situation in the State of Pennsylvania in the United States seems. While a 40% tax is scheduled for e-cigarettes, vape shops want to keep hope.
A REVISED MEASUREMENT OR CLOSURE BEFORE OCTOBER
The owners of vape shops in Pennsylvania remain hopeful and hope that lawmakers will revisit the latest measure resulting from the new state budget law which imposes 40% inventory on their inventories.
What some have called a " punishment Is in fact a tax which was part of the 2016-2017 budget of the state voted in August.
But the shops do not intend to let themselves go and Jeff Wheeland (R-Williamsport) proposed a measure that would replace this tax of 40% by another of 5 cents per milliliter of e-liquid similar to the policies of North Carolina and Louisiana. Wheeland's proposal is expected to be considered at the next meeting of lawmakers, according to Watchdog.org.
« This punitive tax on the current inventory affects more than 300 vape shops in Pennsylvania that are ready to close their doors before any tax levies on October 1, "In a memo, Wheeland told members of Congress that" If these small businesses decided to shut down and fire employees, not only would there be no vaping taxes to recover, the state would risk losing taxes on the income of the laid-off workers. »
$ 40 IN TAXES PER $ 000 OF INVENTORY
Pennsylvania last month increased the cigarette tax by $ 2 per pack, but also implemented a 40% tax on vape shop inventory, requiring contractors to pay for all products, according to Watchdog.org. present on their shelves. This measure should allow to rake in $ 650 million.
Josh Sturtz, director of Vaporium 814 declares with disgust " If you have $ 100.000 in inventory, you should write a check for $ 40.000, "Before announcing" I do not know any company in the vape industry that can afford that».
Ken Cala, a co-owner of The Local Vapor and his associates seem to be more relaxed than the others, but he knows that the budget may be tight in the coming months. After October 1, store owners will have 90 days to prepare a check. " We just have to be very smart about our orders right now and make sure this gets sold out before October 1st ».
Ken Cala is honest and clear ” It doesn't seem reasonable to me to decrease our inventory or destock by then because we will have to pay 40% tax on what we order anyway. ". Despite this blow, the owner has indicated that he is unwilling to pass these costs on to his customers.
