Executive Summary
Tax Revenue
Every state that has implemented a significant tax increase has also realized a significant increase in cigarette tax revenue (Chaloupka, Straif, & Leon, 2010; Farelly, Nimsch & James, 2003).
Cigarette Consumption
Among adults, roughly half of the impact of price on cigarette consumption results from reductions in the number of people smoking and roughly half results from remaining smokers smoking fewer cigarettes (Chaloupa, Straif & Leon, 2010). Compared to the general population, youth are two to three times more sensitive to an increase in cigarette price (Bader, Boisclair & Ferrence, 2011) and are less likely to initiate smoking as prices increase (Cawley, Markowitz & Tauras, 2004; Tauras, O’Malley & Johnston, 2011).
Impact of a Price Increase in Wyoming
Wyoming’s cigarette excise tax has always been below the average state excise tax. A $1.00 per pack increase would put the Wyoming rate slightly greater than the national average. WYSAC’s model estimates that for a per-pack price increase of 10%, cigarette stamp sales would fall by 3.1%. If the Wyoming excise tax rate per pack of cigarettes increased by $1.00, WYSAC estimates consumption would decrease by 6.3%, which is 178,000 packs per month.
