ALBANY — Nicotine pouches in New York will now be taxed like cigarettes after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the state’s $268 billion budget into law Thursday.
The enacted budget brings alternative nicotine products under the state’s existing 75% wholesale tobacco tax. Starting in fiscal year 2028, an additional $50 million in annual tobacco tax revenues are expected to flow into the Health Care Reform Act fund.
The move treats pouches like Zyn or On! the same as conventional tobacco products, even though they contain no tobacco leaf. State budget director Blake Washington has called nicotine pouches a “public health concern,” describing cigarettes and pouches as “a distinction without a difference.”…