What is South Dakota's cigarette tax?

South Dakota levies a state excise tax of 1.53 dollars per pack of 20 cigarettes. This is collected through tax stamps at the wholesale level and is built into the retail shelf price, on top of any applicable sales tax on the final purchase.

How is alcohol taxed in South Dakota?

South Dakota taxes alcohol by the gallon at the wholesale level, with different rates by category: roughly 27 cents per gallon for beer, about 93 cents per gallon for wine of 14 percent alcohol or less, and about 3.93 dollars per gallon for distilled spirits. Higher-strength wine and fortified products carry higher rates.

Are these taxes the same as sales tax?

No. These are per-unit excise taxes levied on the product itself, separate from South Dakota's general sales tax. The excise is paid by wholesalers and folded into the retail price, while sales tax is added at checkout, so a purchase can carry both.

How many drinks are in a gallon?

A gallon is 128 fluid ounces. That is roughly ten and a half 12-ounce beers, about five 750-milliliter wine bottles, or about 21 standard 1.5-ounce shots of spirits. Use these conversions to translate the per-gallon excise into a per-drink or per-bottle figure.

Why are South Dakota's rates worth checking?

Excise rates differ substantially between neighboring states, so the tax baked into a pack of cigarettes or a bottle of liquor can change noticeably when you cross a state line. Knowing South Dakota's rates helps you understand how much of your shelf price is tax rather than product cost.

South Dakota Cigarette & Alcohol Tax Calculator

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South Dakota taxes cigarettes and alcohol with per-unit excise taxes that are paid by wholesalers and folded into the shelf price before sales tax is even added. Cigarettes are taxed per pack and alcohol per gallon, with different rates for beer, wine, and spirits. This tool turns packs, gallons, or bottles into the total excise embedded in your purchase.

How it works

For cigarettes the tax is packs times the per-pack rate; for alcohol it’s gallons times the category’s per-gallon rate:

cigarette tax = packs × $1.53 per pack
alcohol tax   = gallons × per-gallon rate
  beer    ≈ $0.27/gal
  wine    ≈ $0.93/gal (≤14% ABV)
  spirits ≈ $3.93/gal

A gallon is 128 fluid ounces, so the bottle-to-gallon helper divides your bottle size into 128 to convert standard 750-milliliter or 12-ounce containers into gallons before applying the rate.

Example and notes

Two packs of cigarettes carry 2 × 1.53 = 3.06 dollars of state excise. A case of 24 twelve-ounce beers is 24 × 12 ÷ 128 = 2.25 gallons, so the beer excise is 2.25 × 0.27 ≈ 0.61 dollars. A 750-milliliter bottle of spirits is about 0.198 gallons, for roughly 0.198 × 3.93 ≈ 0.78 dollars of liquor excise. These excise figures are separate from and added before South Dakota’s general sales tax. Rates vary by state and by product strength, so confirm current figures for high-proof or fortified products.