Posted on 07/20/2009 10:48:21 AM PDT by markomalley
States across the U.S. have been taking a harder line against an old problem -- cigarette smuggling -- as part of the widening search for solutions to their budget problems.
States including Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia this year have stepped up law-enforcement efforts with the aim of recouping taxes lost to bootleg cigarette sales.
Studies indicate states are losing about $5 billion annually in tax revenue because of illegal tobacco sales, said Phil Awe, who heads the tobacco-diversion division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"We do not want to have our tax laws ignored and lose tax revenue from legitimate sales of cigarettes," Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot said of the crackdown. He estimates that his state is losing "hundreds of thousands of dollars" annually.
The focus on cigarette smuggling is one of several initiatives gaining momentum as states hunt for new revenue to avoid cutting services or raising taxes. Some are contemplating revising current laws or creating new ones that could force out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
When I was in the service aboard ship a carton was $2 back in 1963,when I got out I quit smoking when they went up to 55Cents a pack.
Wow, that could nearly pay for a whole bureaucrat.
Believe it or not, the French side of St Martin has US smokes for about $20 / carton.
No tax on ‘em there!
Gee idiot pols, haven’t you figured out the repurcussions of punative taxation yet?
where are your good ol’ neighborhood Mafia guys when you need them?
I see iPhone now has an app to help you find your local pot dealer...can we adapt it to bootleg cigarettes?
I am a lifelong non-smoker, but would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see Government at all levels take one up the shorts on this issue.
Doesn’t it get expensive replacing the ones you’ve flicked out the car window or whatever?
Some things never change.
Back in the 60s when I worked in a NE Ohio auto plant, there were plenty of low tax Kentucky-sourced cigs being sold out of car trunks. This was for a savings of pennies per pack.
I am aware. You can still order them from Canada if necessary.
Nothing to “Flick”. It’s just replacing an empty nicotine cartridge for a full one. Then you’re good to go. Nothing burns. It’s liquid nicotine in a cartridge that when you inhale triggers an atomizer that sends a little nicotine into your lungs. You exhale a little water vapor that looks like smoke but isn’t smoke.
When in Rome...buy as the Romans would.
If you go across a state border to buy smokes just make sure you go to a restaurant so that you can say that the cigs were just an impulse buy.
You sorta missed the joke. Although, I could see absentmidedly flicking the thing and then going oops.
Old habits and all that.
done
Nicotine is the component responsible for heart attacks and strokes. “Tar” and the other components give you cancer.
>>> Believe it or not, the French side of St Martin has US smokes for about $20 / carton. No tax on ‘em there!
wow... wonder how long that will last.
lol.. they have a website?
Virginia, for one.
I wonder if Virginia can avoid passing tobacco taxes on to me by sending me raw cured produce?
I’ll freaking roll my own if I have to.
Sorry about missing it. Many people don’t know much about them yet.
People I know who use them have never felt the urge to do it. One because they weigh more than a real cigarette, and two, they never shrink, so they never look like they need to be thrown away.
I am certain organized crime has noted the potential profits of supplying consumers with a LEGAL product at lower prices and are responding just like they did during Prohibition. States are foolish to think that raising the price of cigarettes through confiscatory taxation will increase revenue. In response to higher prices the market will always buy less of the product or seek lower cost substitutes. How much will states now have to spend to collect their cigarette taxes?
Who could have guessed this was coming? The States are not going to have the money to add a whole new drug to their police state. All that “income” is going to evaporate quickly into law enforcement, courts and prisons. But the health nazis and hysterics are happy and that is all that matters - really.
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