How much is Washington's cigarette tax per pack?

Washington charges a cigarette excise tax of $3.025 per pack of 20. On top of that, state and local sales tax applies to the retail price, making Washington one of the higher-tax states for cigarettes.

Why is Washington's spirits tax so high?

Washington applies a spirits liter tax of about $3.7708 per liter plus a 20.5% spirits sales tax on the selling price. Combined, these can add more than half again to the shelf price, far above neighboring states.

What is the Washington beer tax rate?

Washington's base beer excise tax is roughly $0.261 per gallon for standard producers, with an additional surcharge on larger producers. This calculator uses the common combined rate of about $0.485 per gallon for retail beer.

Does Washington tax wine separately?

Yes. Table wine is taxed at about $0.2292 per liter (roughly $0.87 per gallon), and fortified wine over 14% alcohol is taxed at a higher rate. These are excise taxes added before retail sales tax.

Washington Cigarette & Alcohol Tax Calculator

Q: Is sales tax included in these numbers?

The spirits sales tax is modeled because it is specific to liquor. General retail sales tax on cigarettes, beer, and wine varies by city, so this tool focuses on the excise component you can compute precisely.

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Washington levies some of the steepest excise taxes in the United States on both tobacco and alcohol, especially distilled spirits. This calculator applies Washington’s current per-pack cigarette tax and per-gallon (or per-liter) alcohol excise schedule so you can see exactly how much tax is buried in the shelf price.

How it works

Cigarettes are taxed at a flat $3.025 per pack of 20 in Washington. Multiply the number of packs by that rate to get the cigarette excise.

Alcohol uses volume-based excise rates:

Beer:    ~$0.485 per gallon (combined base + surcharge)
Wine:    ~$0.2292 per liter  (table wine, ≈$0.8676 per gallon)
Spirits: $3.7708 per liter liter-tax + 20.5% spirits sales tax

For spirits, Washington stacks a fixed liter tax on top of a 20.5 percent spirits sales tax computed on the selling price, which is why a bottle of liquor in Washington carries a dramatically higher tax burden than in most other states.

Example

A 1.75-liter bottle of spirits priced at $25 incurs a liter tax of 1.75 × $3.7708 ≈ $6.60, plus 20.5% of $25 = $5.13, for about $11.73 in combined liquor tax — roughly 47 percent on top of the base price.

Notes

Rates here reflect Washington’s published excise schedule and are estimates, not tax advice. General retail sales tax on cigarettes, beer, and wine varies by city and county, so the totals focus on the precise excise components. Always confirm current rates with the Washington Department of Revenue and the Liquor and Cannabis Board.