Standardising the measurement of cigar tax rates in the USA, 2010–2024

Background State cigar taxes in the USA vary widely in structure and level, unlike cigarette taxes which are typically levied uniformly per pack. This complexity has limited the comparability of cigar tax levels across states, products and time and relative to other tobacco products. Methods We create and publicly release a database of quarterly state and local cigar taxes from 2010 to 2024, standardised to per unit rates by cigar type. Matching Universal Product Code (UPC)-level cigar sales data from the NielsenIQ Retail Scanner Dataset to state and local tax rates by product type, we develop a method to translate heterogeneous cigar tax structures into standardised per unit equivalent tax rates for little, large and premium cigars over time. Results As of 1 October 2024, average state-level per unit cigar taxes were US$0.06 for little cigars, US$0.14 for large cigars and US$0.24 for premium cigars, reflecting increases of 31.2%, 19.2% and 8.3%, respectively since 1 October 2010. On a per gram basis, average state taxes range from 77.8% of the cigarette tax for little cigars to 22.9% of the cigarette tax for premium cigars. Conclusions By facilitating more accurate measurement of cigar taxation, the database presented here enables critical policy evaluations and tobacco control research.