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1 Scott Drenkard, Should D.C. Have the Highest State Cigarette Tax in the Country 1 (2018)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/dchigartx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Should D.C. Have the Highest State Cigarette Tax in the Country? Scott Drenkard Economist & Director of State Projects, Tax Foundation Testimony before the D.C. Council Committee on Finance and Revenue on B22-460 February 1, 2018 Chairman Evans, Members of the Committee, My name is Scott Drenkard, and I'm an economist and director of state projects at the Tax Foundation. For those unfamiliar with the Tax Foundation, we are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at all levels of government since 1937. We have produced the Facts & Figures handbook since 1941, we calculate the State Business Tax Climate Index each year, and we have a wealth of data, rankings, and other information at our website, www.TaxFoundation.ore. I am also a Ward 6 resident and care deeply about the trajectory of our District. In 2014, my colleagues and I played a citizen education role during the legislative process of D.C.'s beneficial tax reform, which broadened tax bases, lowered tax rates, and improved tax fairness in the District. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to speak today with regard to B-22-460, a bill to increase the tax on cigarettes by $2.00 per pack, to a total excise tax rate of $4.50 for each pack sold. While the Tax Foundation takes no position on legislation, I'd like to offer some of our findings from research we have published on this issue in the last few years. Cigarette Taxes Disproportionately Harm Low-Income Individuals Cigarette taxes occupy a policy space at the intersection of fiscal and public health priorities. Because these targeted tax increases are so multifaceted, they must be examined based not just on their intentions, but on how they impact behavior and how they fit in with the overall tax mix of a state. In 2014, one of the priorities of the D.C. Council in enacting comprehensive tax reform was to build a system that worked for everybody. That's why the final package (now law) balanced base broadening, rate lowering, an expansion of the earned income tax credit, and business reforms that helped all D.C. residents-businesses, individuals, families, and those struggling to get by-to make the District a better place to live and work. 1

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