Tobacco taxes

[cowman]

While watching a Country Canada show on tobacco farmers in Ontario I was amazed at how the federal government does everything in its power to put these people out of business. It seems they would prefer that the tobacco companies buy their tobacco from Zimbawbwe or Brazil! I guess it looks better!
The same week the feds announced the great farm aid package of 600 million, they also slipped in a little tax of about $1/pack on cigarettes. Now if there are 8 million smokers in Canada at a pack a day that works out to a nice little profit of about $2.9 billion per year. So I guess we know who is paying for the farm aid package? Those old sinners, the smokers!
The price of a package of cigarettes is about $9, of which $1.85 goes to the tobacco industry. The tobbacco farmers, the manufactures, distributers and retailors. Which leaves the federal and provincial governments with a tidy little tax of $7.15! Now multiply that by 8 million packs per day=$57.2 million per day or $20.8 BILLION a year! Not too shabby for not doing anything but collecting the tax!
So considering this kind of obscene revenue does that pittance they call their generous farm aid really seem so generous? I don't know what their take is on booze and gambling but I suspect it could be substantial! We have to come to the conclusion that the drunks, gamblers and smokers are carrying the load for all us little puritans in this country! Our good old mafia style governments couldn't operate without them! Thank heavens for these old sinners!

[carebear300]

You for forgot the booze tax on beer cowman. I forget a saw the figures once but governments collected about 700,000 dollars worth of tax off of the barley that was made into beer off of just one good quarter section. Yep agriculture is the biggest cash cow government has. They collect all the tax revenue that originated directly from agricultural production and bitch about every penny paid out to support farmers.

[cowman]

If a bottle of beer costs about $1.50 how much of that is tax? How much of that$1.50 goes back to the barley grower? How much to the brewery?
In Alberta the liquor stores are open 7 days a week. All privately owned...we don't have any government stores. In Red Deer Alberta there were two government stores before privatization, now there must be at least twenty! And they all do a rip snorting business!
I remember about 10 years ago I went to a wedding in Saskatoon. We checked into the hotel and me and a buddy went looking for a liquor store(I think there was only one in town and it was a Saturday night). There was a lineup at every till right back to the end of the store ! And all these people were returning their empties! I think we were there about an hour and we couldn't believe it!
Unfortunately I can't drink or smoke anymore and I never could see the point in giving my money away on gambling. So I guess I am one of the little puritans reaping the benefit of government taxes on the vices!

[kam]

We are not exempt from the tobacco taxes here in the US either. Just the other day our esteemed Congress agreed to raise cigarette taxes by $1.25 per pack. I already pay anywhere from $4 to $5 a pack. But this year I'm trying something new. I left a quarter acre of the field bare by my house and planted my own tobacco. My plan is to roll my own smokes this winter.
How's the weather out there? It's getting very dry again here in Michigan. We should be doing wheat in two weeks, but it's looking too thin.