WASHINGTON April 1 2009- A 62-cents-per-pack hike in the federal excise tax for cigarettes takes effect today, but smokers are already feeling it.
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Philip Morris USA, the maker of Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims, increased prices by 71 cents a pack in March. The maker of Camel, Kool and Salem cigarettes, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, bumped wholesale prices up by 44 cents a pack.
The law, signed in February, sets the federal excise taxes on cigarettes at $1.01 per pack and also increases taxes on cigars and pipe and chewing tobacco.
An excise tax is imposed on the manufacturer. In addition, the average state tax is $1.19 per pack, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.