Comment on High Utah tobacco tax boosts smuggling

High Utah tobacco tax boosts smuggling by Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune Published Jan 10, 2013 08:08PM MDT About a third of the tobacco smoked in Utah is now smuggled in, and bootlegging doubled after the state raised its cigarette tax from 69.5 cents a pack to $1.70 in 2010, a new report says. However, Utah Tax Commission officials doubt the problem is anywhere near that severe. “It’s a simple function of high cigarette tax in Utah and low tax in neighboring states,” says Michael D.