The Tax Benefits of Big Tobacco's New Technology May Soon Flame Out
An attendant demonstrates Japan Tobacco Inc.'s Ploom Tech smokeless tobacco device for a photograph during a media preview at the company's Ploom Shop Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, June 28, 2017. By next week, smokeless devices by Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco Plc and Philip Morris International Inc. will be sold in Tokyo, vying to dominate the race for next-generation tobacco products.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
One of the selling points of high-tech cigarette alternatives -- in addition to the purported health benefits -- is they carry lower taxes than traditional smokes.
But in some places, that advantage may be going away.