Missouri is famous for having the lowest cigarette tax in the nation — just 17 cents a pack since 1993 — and its alcohol excise rates are also among the lowest nationally. These “sin taxes” are charged per pack or per gallon and built into the wholesale price before the product reaches the shelf. This calculator surfaces the hidden Missouri excise tax in cigarettes, beer, wine, and spirits.
Missouri’s sin taxes in national context
Missouri’s cigarette excise of $0.17 per pack has remained unchanged since 1993, making it the lowest state cigarette tax in the United States by a wide margin. To put that in perspective: New York’s state cigarette excise is $5.35 per pack (raised from $4.35 in 2023), Illinois charges $2.98, and the average state rate is well above $1.50 per pack. A Missouri smoker buying a carton of 10 packs pays only $1.70 in state excise tax — the same carton carries $53.50 of state excise in New York.
Missouri’s alcohol excise rates follow the standard pattern of taxing higher-alcohol beverages more per gallon:
| Beverage | Missouri excise rate |
|---|---|
| Beer | ~$0.06 per gallon |
| Wine | ~$0.42 per gallon |
| Distilled spirits | ~$2.00 per gallon |
These rates are collected from distributors and wholesalers, not at the register, so they are already embedded in the retail price you see on the shelf.
How the calculation works
Excise tax is a flat per-unit amount, applied before sales tax:
excise tax = quantity × per-unit rate
cigarettes: packs × $0.17
beer: gallons × $0.06
wine: gallons × $0.42
spirits: gallons × $2.00Missouri’s general and local sales taxes apply on top of the retail shelf price (which already includes the excise). This tool shows the embedded excise portion only.
Worked examples
Carton of cigarettes (10 packs): 10 × $0.17 = $1.70 in Missouri excise. The same carton carries $29.80 of state excise in Illinois and $53.50 in New York.
Case of beer (24 × 12 oz cans = 2.25 gallons): 2.25 × $0.06 = $0.14 in Missouri beer excise — essentially pennies. Beer is lightly taxed in Missouri.
Two-gallon wine purchase (roughly 10 standard 750ml bottles): 2 × $0.42 = $0.84.
One 1.75-liter spirits bottle (~0.46 gallons): 0.46 × $2.00 = $0.92 in Missouri spirits excise.
Why Missouri’s low cigarette tax matters
The 17-cent cigarette tax creates a notable cross-border purchasing effect. Residents of neighboring Illinois pay $2.98 per pack in state excise — $2.81 more than in Missouri. On a carton (10 packs), that is a $28.10 difference in state tax alone, making Missouri a destination for cross-border tobacco purchasing from southern Illinois.
Missouri voters have defeated several ballot measures to raise the cigarette tax over the decades. A portion of any Missouri cigarette excise revenue is directed to health and education programs, and the policy debate about raising the rate continues in the Missouri legislature.
The federal layer this tool does not show
State excise is only half the “sin tax” story. The federal government levies its own excise before Missouri’s, collected by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB): roughly $1.01 per pack on cigarettes — six times Missouri’s entire state tax — plus per-gallon federal rates on beer, wine, and spirits (spirits are quoted per proof gallon federally, so the effective rate depends on alcohol strength). When you see a “tax burden” figure for a pack of Missouri cigarettes, check whether it includes the federal $1.01; the federal layer is why even lowest-tax-state cigarettes carry meaningful embedded tax. Current federal rates are published on the TTB tax and fee rates page.
Unit conversion reference
Alcohol excise is per gallon; here are common container sizes in gallons:
- Standard 12-oz can or bottle: 0.094 gal
- Six-pack (12 oz): 0.563 gal
- Standard 750 ml bottle: 0.198 gal
- 1.75-liter bottle: 0.463 gal
- Full case of wine (12 × 750 ml): 2.378 gal
Sources
- Missouri Department of Revenue — administers the state cigarette and alcohol excise taxes
- TTB — federal excise tax and fee rates
Estimate only. Excise rates are set by statute and ballot measure and can change; comparison figures for other states move frequently. Update the quantity and product fields for your purchase, and verify current rates against the sources above. All math runs locally in your browser.