Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – A new tax hidden away in the DC Council’s latest budget could be putting vape shops out of business.
“Our main mission is to get people off those combustible, highly-addictive cigarettes,” said Sean Robinson, the owner of District Vape on H Street. He’s adamant his vaping products are not addictive, but the city will start taxing them like they are.
“The Mayor’s new budget decided to re-word the law to make vaping products categorized as ‘other tobacco products’. That’s going to levy a 70% wholesale excise tax on all vapor products, including devices.”
He says it’ll make his inventory costs go through the roof.
“(Suppliers) have no reason to pay an extra 70% when they can just go sell it to everybody else outside the District of Columbia.”
Robinson believes there is no other explanation for why the city would group big tobacco and vaping products together other than ignorance.
“It’s about ignorance. Vaping products are anti-tobacco devices. They’re really made to get people off the highly-addictive cigarettes,” he said.
Without vaping shops, he said some people may not know where to turn to start quitting smoking.
“They say it’s to fill a $400,000 hole in the budget. The problem is, they’re going to put us out of business,” Robinson said. “You can’t get blood from a stone. We tell them that and they don’t seem to be listening to us.”
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