What next? NY State Customs offices at all state boundaries?
And from cigarettes, they'll move on to ANY and ALL purchases on the net...That's the game plan. They figure cigarettes is the most plausible to start with.
Has anyone asked just HOW they got the names and purchases off the Internet? Doesn't sound legal to me
If Bloomie has his way, that'll be the monthly tax bill for someone smoking a pack a day.
These people truly do not get it.
Bloomberg doesn't realize how creative people can get. Let him triple all taxes and create an undergound economy.
All this does is establish the need to buy those prepaid visa cards and use some other name.
Perhaps thos corner bar package stores will make a comeback.
What a pompous ass!
Where's Randy Moss when you need him...
Clemenza to Albany: F-ck you!
better be prepared to cough up taxes
Finally, something men can talk about when the doctor asks them to turn their head and cough.
"The city's finance department this week sent letters to 3,700 smokers asking them to fork over $1.3 million in city taxes from Internet tobacco purchases."
$351 in tax per scofflaw. The bad PR this gets will only encourage, of course, a much stronger black market.
In CT what the people call a "sales" tax is referrred to in law as a "Sales and Use" tax. It covers sales as well as transactions outside of traditional sales. It could be used to charge taxes on barter deals and it expressly requires purchasers of goods who bring those purchases back to CT to pay taxes on them. Internet sales are included as are the more traditional mail order purchases.
How do they know who is buying cigs online? Michael Bloomberg is the ultimate Lifestyle Nazi.
Years ago, NY sent "undercover officers" to malls in New Jersey (I don't know if it's still the case, but at the time, NJ didn't charge sales tax on clothing) to record the license plate numbers of NY registered cars, and sent them warning letters that it was illegal to purchase items out of state to avoid paying taxes. There were talks of "townsfolks with torches and pichforks," so it was dropped. Looks like it's back again!
“...and it's still the seller's responsibility to collect....”
This is yet another slap in the face to our constitution. Amendment XIII, Section 1 states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Requiring that businesses collect sales tax is involuntary servitude. The amendment doesn’t specify whether or not one gets paid for the “servitude” but I believe it makes the distinction when it addresses both slavery and servitude. Why are we not adhering to our constitution?
I don’t understand the concept. Smokers are using a product that if they didn’t use, the government would make NO money. The government raised the tax to a point where it was more attractive to buy elsewhere than pay the tax. This is called free exchange of goods and services. (Free enterprise). There is no cheating here; this situation allows for no such thing as cheating. If the price is too high, buy elsewhere.
These people need to tell the state of New York to go to hell. From what I understand, it is still illegal to tax internet sales unless the store has a physical location in your state. When I make internet purchases of other goods there are no taxes unless there is a physical store in Kentucky.
This is nothing but greed.
And if you get a salary from the city of New York and use you position to prostitute the law, YOU are a PIMP!
The question is: what if you only browse a cig website, then order via the toll free number?
Note: From now on just avoid going online and go straight to the Mafia for your cigarette supply. They dont keep records.
"The law says you got to pay your taxes. The handful of people who don't are just stealing from the rest of us,"
Bwahahahahaha
The only way to enforce that law is to put custom houses up at all City entry points and check every person and vehicle trying to enter.