Posted on 01/21/2013 7:41:12 AM PST by algernon_garnock
With all the nonsense thats been going on in the Empire State of late especially the Governors successful gun rantings - Id begun to worry that New York was doomed for mediocrity. But for better or worse, you just cant keep the government of this state down. If we cant lead in freedom, prosperity or employment, we can at least be the capital of piracy. (Cigarette smuggling piracy, that is.)
The Midland, Mich.-based Mackinac Center has released smuggling reports in 2006 and 2009, in addition to its most recent report covering 2011. In 2006, the Mackinac Center estimated that New York had the fifth highest smuggling rate in the country as 35.81%. In 2008, New Yorks state excise tax on cigarettes nearly doubled, going from $1.50 to $2.75 per pack. In the Mackinac Centers 2009 report, New York rose to number two on the list, with a smuggling rate of 47.35%. State excise taxes rose again in 2010, going from $2.75 to the states current $4.35. Not surprisingly, the 190% increase in state excise taxes from 2006 through 2011 catapulted New York to its title as the most smuggled state.
But this still leaves a pressing question. Where are all of these smokes coming from? Its not as if Al Gores global warming has suddenly turned New York into a great place to grow tobacco. According to another analysis, the largest (illegal) exporter of cigarettes to the Big Apple was New Hampshire. How could that happen?
New Hampshire had the highest share of its cigarettes 26.8 percent smuggled out of the state. The state cut its tax rate in 2011 by 10 cents to $1.68, still slightly higher than the national average. But it is surrounded by states with much higher tax rates. In Massachusetts, for example, the tax was $2.51 per pack.
If it was easier to get large quantities of cigarettes from a place like Tennessee to New York, thats where they would be coming from. (You can find Marlboros there for under five bucks a pack today, all taxes included.) But New Hampshire is closer, so their retailers reap the benefits. Meanwhile, Governor Cuomos state continues to bleed out cash, thinking that just one more tax hike will finally make the difference and put us back in the black.
Let us know how that works out, Andy.
Indian Reservations within the State.
Good. May it continue in spades.
Regards,
Thanks
Smokes are $100/carton in the local grocery story (yes, you read that right) and $30 on the "res". New York has been funding its government for years now by counting the revenue it "should" get from tobacco.
And, let me tell you, they're really pi**ed they're not getting it.
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