New York cigarette tax hits smokers

NEW YORK, June 3 (UPI) -- New York smokers Tuesday were reaching deeper into their pockets to pay for their smokes, as the tax for a pack of cigarettes jumped by 83 percent.

In New York City, the combined state and local taxes on cigarettes rose to $4.25 per pack, the highest in the nation, and in some cases pushed the per-pack price to $10.25, the New York Post reported.

The city's health department estimated that in most places the price of a pack of cigarettes would average out to between $7 and $8.25, depending on the retail mark-ups, and giving pack-a-day smokers a $3,000-per-year incentive to drop the habit, the newspaper said.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the opportunity to declare Tuesday as "NYC Quits Day."