Some tobacco retailers say a new interpretation of tobacco legislation will burden them with additional costs and higher taxes.
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue released a notice Friday to ""roll your own"" cigarette retailers across the state, requiring them to pay for a variety of costly permits and certifications from various state agencies in order to operate machinery.
Roll-your-own machines allow customers to create their own cigarettes by allowing them to pack purchased loose tobacco. This distinction from boxed and carton cigarettes allowed retailers to avoid paying full cigarette taxes.
The DOR estimates there are 50-100 roll your own machines operating in Wisconsin, accounting for approximately $19 million in lost tax revenue on cigarettes.
""Manufacturers and our retail members are required by law to collect taxes on cigarettes,"" said Matt Hauser, President of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association in a statement. ""It's time to close this loophole and have everyone play by the same rules.""
These new costs have retailers concerned for their bottom lines.
""It's probably going to put us out of business,"" Jan Nau, employee of Discount Smokes, a roll your own machine operating shop in Portage, Wisc., said of the notice.
The American Cancer Society said it supports the DOR's actions for health reasons.
""We're glad [Wisconsin] Governor [Scott] Walker is taking action…and that he recognizes the real health danger roll-your-own machines pose to the health of our state,"" Allison Miller, Wisconsin Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society, said in a statement.
