As state lawmakers consider new regulations to crack down on vaping in Idaho, two retailers are asking them to go easy on any new taxes.

Co-owned Jacksons Food Stores, Tobacco Connection and Big Smoke testified before lawmakers Tuesday that they should tax vaping products at three cents per milliliter.

This would be the lowest rate in the country, according to the Tax Foundation.

Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Wisconsin currently have the lowest per milliliter tax of five cents. The average is seven hundred.

Other states tax vaping products based on their wholesale price or a combination of both approaches.

Three cents per milliliter, said Doug Ball, who oversees tobacco products at Jacksons, is “not excessive.” “

Based on the last 12 months of sales at Jacksons, that would represent over $85,000 in tax revenue from our stores alone,” Ball said.

That money, he said, could then be used to establish a new national registry of vaping products that would be updated monthly with items banned by the Food and Drug Administration.

“I think there’s enough money out there to fund Idaho’s implementation of this simpler solution,” Ball said.

Idaho is one of 18 states that does not tax vaping products. All other tobacco products are taxed at 40% of the wholesale price.

Lawmakers last tried to tax e-cigarettes in 2023, but the bill never got a hearing.

The study commission on the new regulations heard proposals from tobacco lobbyists, public health officials and others earlier in September.

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