E-cigarette users in Pennsylvania fear there may be a wolf at the door that could make using the product a lot more expensive. Governor Tom Wolf has proposed his budget for next year and if it passes in the General Assembly it'll see the wholesale price of e-cigarettes taxed at a rate of 40%





The greedy governor believes his plans to add the wholesale tax to e-cigarettes, which he wrongly believes are tobacco products, could bring in around $84m. He also plans on increasing the tax on deadly tobacco cigarettes bringing in another $358m a year. Does Wolf actually realize the damage his policies will cause? People switch from tobacco cigarettes to vaping because not just is it safer but it's a lot cheaper. Putting up the prices of e-cigarettes by such a high figure might put people off switching and continuing to smoke themselves to an early death.





Of course the problem is the governor sees e-cigarettes as a growing industry. Anything that makes a profit these days has to be a taxation target and the governor doesn't want to miss out on the chance to make millions of dollars, especially if tobacco cigarette sales drop. Local vaping shop owners have some interesting views on the matter of taxation. James Cattle owns the Vapor Cloud Lounge in York. He believes there should be a degree of taxation on e-cigarettes but not the 40% proposed by Wolf.





He said, that's as long as it's within a "reasonable price" — not the 40 percent that Wolf is proposing. He fears that level of taxation could shut him down as people either shop online or just go to a neighboring state to get their supplies. That's another problem caused by the crazy situation where different states have different laws on the product. Tyler Lawrence, one of the co-owners of One Step Above, also in York believes the proposed tax will create a black market for e-liquids.





Is that what the governor wants? Does his desire for additional revenue want to see the business driven online or underground? This week Cattle invited state Rep. Kevin Schreiber to his store to discuss the matter. He told him how the tax would increase the price of a one ounce bottle of vaping liquid from $17.99 to nearly $30 and potentially put him out of business.





Schreiber suggested that vaping store owners write to state legislators as a group so they have a part in any decisions that are made. Of course with a potential $84m at stake their views will be totally ignored. He believes the proposed tax will be passed because sin taxes are constantly used to raise money.



