Wawa enters the cigarette-tax fray in Harrisburg

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks

Wawa is circulating literature that raises concerns about a proposal to tax cigarettes in Philadelphia.

City Council voted last week to impose a new $2 tax on every pack of cigarettes, but the proposal still would require state legislation. It is part of a plan to bail out the city’s schools, which are facing a $304 million budget deficit next fiscal year.

The document that Wawa shared with some Pennsylvania lawmakers and the Corbett administration states that the $2 tax would create a black market for cigarettes.

"Black-market cigarettes result in tax revenue loss for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and loss of sales revenue and customer traffic for legitimate tobacco retailers," the document reads.

It also states that "a large tax increase in Philadelphia will result in ‘border bleed’ for tobacco products currently being sold in Philadelphia."

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