How much is the cigarette tax in Utah?

Utah's state cigarette tax is $1.70 per pack of 20, a rate set in 2010. That is about 8.5 cents per cigarette and sits roughly in the middle of US state rates. Utah does not add broad county or city cigarette taxes, though other tobacco products are taxed separately.

How does Utah tax beer?

Utah levies a beer excise of about $12.80 per 31-gallon barrel, which works out to roughly $0.413 per gallon, or about 3.9 cents on a 12 oz can. Lower-alcohol beer is sold in grocery and convenience stores, while higher-alcohol beer is sold through state-controlled outlets.

Why are Utah wine and spirits so heavily taxed?

Utah is a control (ABC) state. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS) controls the wholesale and retail sale of wine and distilled spirits and applies a large markup — commonly cited around 88% — plus an 86-cent-per-liter handling fee. This markup is embedded in the shelf price, producing an effective spirits excise of roughly $15.96 per gallon.

Is this excise added at the register or built into the price?

For cigarettes and beer, the excise is paid by distributors and built into the wholesale price. For DABS-controlled wine and spirits, the markup and fees are embedded directly in the state-set shelf price. In all cases Utah's general sales tax is then applied on top at checkout.

Does Utah charge sales tax on top of these excise taxes?

Yes. The excise taxes estimated here are separate from Utah's general sales tax. When you buy cigarettes or alcohol at retail, state and local sales tax is applied to the shelf price, which already includes the excise or DABS markup, so the total tax burden is the excise plus sales tax.

Utah Cigarette & Alcohol Tax Calculator (Excise 2025)

Utah’s alcohol and tobacco taxes reflect its status as a tightly regulated control state. The cigarette tax of $1.70 per pack is a flat statewide excise, while wine and spirits are sold only through the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS), which embeds a large markup and per-liter fee directly into the shelf price. This calculator applies the real per-pack and per-gallon figures to any quantity you enter and shows how much excise is baked into the purchase.

How it works

For cigarettes the math is per pack of 20:

Cigarette excise = Packs × $1.70

For alcohol the tax is charged by volume, so the tool converts containers to gallons (1 US gallon = 128 fl oz) and applies the per-gallon rate:

Gallons = (Containers × oz each) ÷ 128 Alcohol excise = Gallons × Rate per gallon

The per-gallon figures are $0.413 for beer, roughly $8.00 for wine, and roughly $15.96 for spirits (the wine and spirits values are effective-excise estimates that reflect the DABS markup, not a posted statutory rate).

Utah excise rates explained

Cigarettes — $1.70/pack. A flat state cigarette tax set in 2010, about 8.5 cents per cigarette. No broad local cigarette tax applies.
Beer — ~$0.413/gallon. Roughly $12.80 per 31-gallon barrel, adding about 3.9 cents to a 12 oz can.
Wine & spirits — DABS control. Utah controls all wine and distilled-spirits sales through DABS, applying a large markup (commonly ~88%) plus an 86-cent-per-liter handling fee. The effective excise on spirits is roughly $15.96 per gallon.

Worked example

A buyer purchases a case of 24 × 12 oz beers:

Volume = 24 × 12 = 288 oz = 288 ÷ 128 = 2.25 gallons
Beer excise = 2.25 × $0.413 = $0.93

And a 750 ml bottle of spirits (25.36 oz ≈ 0.198 gallons):

Spirits excise ≈ 0.198 × $15.96 = $3.16 embedded in the DABS shelf price

Note: These excise figures are separate from Utah’s general sales tax, which is applied on top at checkout. The DABS wine/spirits numbers are effective-excise estimates based on the state markup and fees, not a single posted rate. Verify current figures at tax.utah.gov and abs.utah.gov.

Utah Cigarette & Alcohol Tax Calculator (Excise 2025)

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How it works

Utah excise rates explained

Worked example