Posted on 01/15/2005 11:55:06 AM PST by HoggerFox
NYC: Smokers Who Buy Online Need To Pay Up City Enforcing Cigarette Tax Laws
Jan 13, 2005 12:20 pm US/Eastern NEW YORK (CBS) The New York City Finance Department has ordered smokers who bought tax-free cigarettes on the Internet to pay city taxes on their purchases.
The demands were made in letters mailed this week.
Finance Commissioner Martha Stark says “it's part of a new effort to enforce the cigarette tax laws."
The city mailed letters to about 2,300 people whose names were obtained from cigs4cheap.com, which is no longer operating. The letters warned that recipients who failed to pay the back taxes would be penalized up to $200 for every carton purchased online.
“I was taken back. There was no warning and the letter was written rather nastily,” says Andrew Hoffer, a smoker from Maspeth.
Andrew Hoffer was one of 2,314 New Yorkers who got letter from city finance department demanding payment of city cigarette taxes for cigs purchased on Internet.
In Hoffer's case, the city says he owns $1,005 on 67 cartons of Bronco cigarettes he bought from a now defunct website cigaretteoutlet.com. If he doesn't pay up in 30 days, he will be fined $200 a carton, which in his case adds up $13,400.
"I think its unfair taxation," says Hoffer.
City officials told CBS 2 they hope to recoup $1,000,000 in unpaid taxes, but that's just the beginning. Two more sets of stunning letters are due to go out shortly. One mailing will go out to 1,800 people while a third mailing is still being sorted out but there could be millions more in unpaid taxes to be collected. That is just New York City's share.
The state of New York is also expected to pounce cause by going to the Internet smokers can save a bundle.
For example, a $7.00 pack of Marlboro in the city includes $1.50 in city taxes, $1.50 in state taxes and 39 cents in federal taxes. But at the website, the same cigarettes are just a $1.29 a pack.
Hoping to avoid paying the taxes, some smokers turned to Internet sites, mail-order catalogs and tax-exempt Indian merchants.
Mayor Bloomberg praised his finance commissioner Thursday for going after the tax.
(See url link for story and click on the "2,300 people have already gotten letters, Marcia Kramer reports." link on the CBS page for the video of what aired on the News on Television, interview took place in my home.)
http://cbsnewyork.com/topstories/topstoriesny_story_013111240.html
http://cbsnewyork.com/topstories/topstoriesny_story_013111240.html
Typical Govr rip offs.
A CATO INSTITUTE study shows that NYC is the highest taxed local in the country (on tobacco). In addition, the study shows a correlation between tax increases and an increase in the black market sale of tobacco, as well as the rise of low-tax/no tax tobacco products being sold.
Here's a link:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1327
Unfortunately, Kentucky's 'conservative' Republican Governor is getting ready to the same thing to pander to the anti-smoking lobby, and to paraphrase him and his allies in the General Assembly, this tax punishes only one group, smokers, and is designed to force them to stop smoking.
No thanks, even me, a non-smoker, is OK with someone making the personal decision of whether they want to smoke.
There should be a balance in tax policy, and a commitment to stop this liberal social engineering garbage that Republicans are falling victim to repeatedly, more and more.
“...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.
I'm so sorry for your fiance's predicament. On another thread I called it legalized mugging in NY. What are the bigger issues you mention?
Pardon my asking but do you plan to hang around and participate in FR in the future, or is this just a drive by to stir up sympathy for your cause?
Posted here also
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1319979/posts
Honey, you elected the jerks running your city and state, now live with them. If you want to end this sort of insanity, vote the b@st@rds out.
this tax punishes only one group, smokers, and is designed to force them to stop smoking.<<<<<<<<
It does punish one group, but I think it is clear that the last thing they want is for smokers to quit smoking. They just say that, it's kinda like the "for the children" argument. What they want is the $$$$$$$.
Welcome to Free Republic.
We were on that thread Thursday. The link I just provided was from this morning. We were discussing the nastyness of the lawmakers.
They drove smokers to buy cigarettes elsewhere, and now they are trying to persecute buyers for doing so.
Sounes like the "use tax" sword that is hanging above many a head in sales tax states. While the City may have evidence of a purchase, can they prove delivery in the City or more importantly, can they prove consumption in the city? I would think the latter is the defense to use ... "since I smoked 'em in Jersey, I don't owe NYC nuttin." Besides, isn't it illegal to smoke in NYC? :)
That isn't always true. The lawmakers promise the moon to get our votes, then once in office, they stick it to their constituents. I'm sick and tired of it.
A lot of smokers said if they received this letter, they would just tear it up. To hell with them.
Yes I plan to hang around FR and I'm not just passing through. I was interested in other's opinions and having conversation, not to just vent. My main point was that Andy has the letter and I saw some questions on other threads about this whole topic so he said he'd type on here answering anything. I am going to ask him to scan the letter we received and only block out our address and put it on his website so everyone can read what this thing really says. It's long so I can't type it all but it's big-brotherish and very nasty. Also i wanted to talk with all of you and see if anyone else got the letter or if anyone is going to try and fight it. Andy is probably going to pay, going to have to. When he wakes up (he works overnights) he's going to love to see all the input on the subject because he thought nobody realized how serious this was getting but apparently many do see it now.
Oh and yes I read the comment just made about me voting that guy into office. I'm not going to say whether I did or didn't but point taken.
I don't know about NY, but here in Denver dh and I were bamboozled by stealth-lib Mayor Hinkenlooper. No party affiliation was listed for any candidate in the mayoral race. He ran as a local business man-regular guy (a stark contrast to Wellington Webb), he seemed like a good choice. Then he got into office. Then we heard about smoking bans, his support of abortion, and many other disturbing things. I become nausteated every time I think of how I voted for him. I can't wait to vote against him. I think Bloomberg pulled the old bait and switch himself (didn't he change his affiliation from Deem to Repub?).
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