Commercial RYO machine operators must comply with the new rules effective immediately. On Friday, July 6, President Barack Obama signed the transportation bill, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, into law. The bill included a provision that defines commercial RYO machine operators as tobacco manufacturers under federal law. This means…
What’s in Store in the Humidor
As if the turbulent economy, rising state taxes and local anti-smoking regulations hadn’t rendered the retail cigar landscape dangerous enough, enter the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which wants to significantly reshape that landscape, but so far hasn’t told anyone—most notably the retailers that will be selling the products—how. Some background: The law granting…
The Tax Train Keeps Rolling
January could not end soon enough. The industry hasn’t seen such a tumultuous month since November 1998 when Congress first turned to tobacco as its financial panacea. Big Brother was at it again last month with the U.S. Senate passing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)—including all of the cigarette and tobacco tax rate…