SEATTLE - Beginning in July, a carton of roll-your-own cigarettes in Washington state will double in price, from roughly $40 to $80 as a RYO tax increase takes effect, Q13 Fox reports.
Washington€™s RYO industry has proliferated in recent years, and there are now about 65 outlets around the state. Those storeowners are threatening to sue over the imminent tax increase. Furthermore, they contend the new tax is unlikely to generate the $12 million in revenue that lawmakers predict.
Some lawmakers are crying foul about the measure, alleging it violated the state€™s voting rules by establishing a new tax without the sufficient number of votes. However, proponents of the change counter that there is no new RYO tax and that the increase is an extension of an existing tax to a product that is enjoying a tax loophole.
Read more on roll-your-own cigarettes in the January issue of NACS Magazine.