Hookah Company Loses Florida Tobacco Tax Refund Bid on Appeal

A hookah tobacco distributor failed to convince a Florida appeals court Wednesday that its product isn’t a type of “loose tobacco suitable for smoking” that the state subjects to an 85% tax.

Global Hookah Distributors Inc. asked the Florida Court of Appeal, First District, to hold that it’s entitled to a $1.41 million refund for tax years 2013-2016 because the Department of Business and Professional Regulation improperly put hookah in a tax category of “other tobacco products” separate from cigarettes.

“As a means to yield vaporized nicotine for inhaling, there is no meaningful difference between combusting cut-up tobacco leaves, on ...