File photo
If you smoke and buy your cigarettes in Pennsylvania, prices have risen.
Starting Monday morning, smokers are paying $1 more in taxes per pack. The tax jumped from $1.60 per pack to $2.60 a pack.
The new cigarette tax hike makes buying smokes in Pennsylvania among the top 10 highest in the entire country. The tax increase makes buying cigarettes in Pennsylvania only $.10 cheaper per pack than New Jersey.
Cigarette aren’t the only thing seeing a tax increase Monday. Digital downloads will also now be charged the current six percent sales tax.
Customers of online services like Hulu, Netflix, music downloads and e-book downloads will all be forced to pay the sales tax. Digital downloads of the bible, magazines and newspapers will be exempt from the new tax.
The new taxes are expected to bring about $47 million to state coffers over the next year. The increased taxes are needed to help pay for the state’s 2016-2017 budget.
Starting in October, chewing tobacco, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes will see new taxes imposed.
