Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis

Introduction: The effect of smokeless tobacco (SLT) taxes on SLT use has received relatively little research attention in the US compared to the extensive focus on cigarette and e-cigarette taxation. The scarcity of SLT literature is partially due to the complexities of SLT taxes and the lack of sta...

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Main Authors: Yanyun He, Zezhong Zhang, Qian Yang, Ce Shang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-02-01
Series:Preventive Medicine Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221133552500018X
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author Yanyun He
Zezhong Zhang
Qian Yang
Ce Shang
author_facet Yanyun He
Zezhong Zhang
Qian Yang
Ce Shang
author_sort Yanyun He
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: The effect of smokeless tobacco (SLT) taxes on SLT use has received relatively little research attention in the US compared to the extensive focus on cigarette and e-cigarette taxation. The scarcity of SLT literature is partially due to the complexities of SLT taxes and the lack of standardized taxes. While some states imposed specific taxes based on the weight of the products, others imposed ad valorem taxes. These two types of tax schemas are not directly comparable, further complicating analysis. Objective: We standardize SLT taxes into two measures: first, we convert ad valorem taxes to specific taxes so that both taxes are expressed in $/ounce; second, we convert specific taxes to ad valorem taxes so that both taxes are measured as % of the wholesale price. Methods: We extracted sales-weighted retail prices from the Nielsen Retail Scanner Data between 2006 and 2020. We developed a method to standardize SLT taxes. Results: Overall, the standardized SLT taxes exhibit a steadily increasing trend. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the average specific tax for chewing tobacco, moist snuff, dry snuff, and snus was $0.36, $0.91, $0.74, and $1.27 per ounce, respectively. The average ad valorem tax for chewing tobacco, moist snuff, dry snuff, and snus was 57.4 %, 47.5 %, 42.6 %, and 38.8 % of wholesale prices, respectively. Conclusions: The SLT tax data provided here can serve as a valuable tool for policymakers in determining and refining SLT tax rates, further allowing future studies to understand their impacts on SLT use and related disparities.
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spelling doaj-art-1b0aa43d335a46b28df2abd0802b77f32025-02-08T05:00:18ZengElsevierPreventive Medicine Reports2211-33552025-02-0150102979Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysisYanyun He0Zezhong Zhang1Qian Yang2Ce Shang3Center for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA; Corresponding author at: Center for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.Center for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USACenter for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USACenter for Tobacco Research, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology Division, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USAIntroduction: The effect of smokeless tobacco (SLT) taxes on SLT use has received relatively little research attention in the US compared to the extensive focus on cigarette and e-cigarette taxation. The scarcity of SLT literature is partially due to the complexities of SLT taxes and the lack of standardized taxes. While some states imposed specific taxes based on the weight of the products, others imposed ad valorem taxes. These two types of tax schemas are not directly comparable, further complicating analysis. Objective: We standardize SLT taxes into two measures: first, we convert ad valorem taxes to specific taxes so that both taxes are expressed in $/ounce; second, we convert specific taxes to ad valorem taxes so that both taxes are measured as % of the wholesale price. Methods: We extracted sales-weighted retail prices from the Nielsen Retail Scanner Data between 2006 and 2020. We developed a method to standardize SLT taxes. Results: Overall, the standardized SLT taxes exhibit a steadily increasing trend. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the average specific tax for chewing tobacco, moist snuff, dry snuff, and snus was $0.36, $0.91, $0.74, and $1.27 per ounce, respectively. The average ad valorem tax for chewing tobacco, moist snuff, dry snuff, and snus was 57.4 %, 47.5 %, 42.6 %, and 38.8 % of wholesale prices, respectively. Conclusions: The SLT tax data provided here can serve as a valuable tool for policymakers in determining and refining SLT tax rates, further allowing future studies to understand their impacts on SLT use and related disparities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221133552500018XSmokeless tobaccoExcise taxSpecific taxAd valorem tax
spellingShingle Yanyun He
Zezhong Zhang
Qian Yang
Ce Shang
Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis
Preventive Medicine Reports
Smokeless tobacco
Excise tax
Specific tax
Ad valorem tax
title Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis
title_full Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis
title_fullStr Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis
title_full_unstemmed Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis
title_short Smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the US: Standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis
title_sort smokeless tobacco excise taxes in the us standardizing the measurement for empirical analysis
topic Smokeless tobacco
Excise tax
Specific tax
Ad valorem tax
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221133552500018X
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