Posted on 02/21/2005 6:46:21 AM PST by Zon
Hundreds of Michigan residents are getting a big surprise this tax season--hefty tax bills for cigarettes they bought online over the past four years.
The state sent the bills to 553 residents last week after subpoenaing 13 online tobacco shops for names of Michigan customers and their order histories, a Michigan Treasury Department spokesman Caleb Buhs said on Friday. The tax bills are based on information from just one store, and the state expects to collect more names from the others.
Collectively, the people receiving this first round of bills owe the state $1.4 million, an average of $2,500 per person, Buhs said. They have until March 14 to pay.
"At its most fundamental level, this is an issue of tax fairness," State Treasurer Jay B. Rising said in a statement. "It is only right that out-of-state vendors, who conduct business only online and at arms length, follow the letter of the law. These taxes are collected by brick-and-mortar businesses in Michigan, and Internet vendors should not be allowed to skirt their responsibility."
Michigan, which levies a $2 tax on every pack of cigarettes, collected $993 million in tobacco taxes last year, Buhs said.
eSmokes, one of the top tobacco sellers on the Web, cancelled thousands of orders to Michigan customers after hearing about the tax crackdown, an eSmokes representative said. The representative would not discuss whether the store has been subpoenaed by Michigan or any other state.
Michigan did not disclose which companies it has subpoenaed.
Other states, including California, Washington and Wisconsin, have launched efforts to collect tobacco taxes from residents who dodged them online. A 2002 report (click for .pdf) from the U.S. General Accounting Office said most states tax the sale of cigarettes, and that online sales have cost them millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Internet shops that don't tell states about tobacco purchases by people other than licensed distributors are flouting a federal law known as the Jenkins Act. Laws that exempt online retailers from collecting sales taxes do not apply to tobacco excise taxes, the GAO report said.
Ahem...from my last post:
It is a contract between the sovereign political subdivisions known as states
I told you you didn't understand our government.
Let's recap this little 'understanding', shall we?
My lengthy and legally detailed post #89.
Your reply;
Mama, I don't think you understand the basis for our government.
My lengthy and legally detailed post #119
Your reply;
You have little evidence that you understand what a constitutional republic is.
My lengthy and detailed post #166
Your reply;
I told you you didn't understand our government.
So in rebuttal, I must say YES, I DO understand.
I understand that I have MUCH better uses of my time than to engage in a legal debate with someone who seeks neither knowledge NOR truth....
but only AGREEMENT!
Yeah, but there are many different groups who want more govt rules/intervention/intrusion/etc. i.e.
1.the truly poor...cuz they wouldn't be poor (for long) if the could take care of themselves.
2.Lawyers...cuz they plan to profit from/manipulate new/existing laws.
3.Hollywood...cuz, individually, they're at mercy of some pompous studio exec. for their career/$s (dependency mentality)
4.Liberals..i.e. those not in control of their own destiny see 3 (above).
ETC.
I can't argue with you.
Laughing my a** off here,they actually asked for you to report income earned illegally?That would have kept Whitey Bulger's CPA quite busy.
Good old Massachusetts.
Using legal means from what I observe.
Or civil disobedience. That is also an option.
As a proud owner of a high performence 4-wheel drive sports car, I may have a different perspective on the 55 mph speed limit law.
When you are a highly trained driver, with a automobile capable of handling roads at higher speeds, then you simply must accept the costs involved.
Occasionally, the police will pull me over to collect the "speeding license" fees, but that is something understood by all of the people involved.
My daughter offered to ship them to me from another state(and she's a nonsmoker)She was stunned when I told her how heavily we were taxed.
I refused her offer because I was afraid it was not legal and didn't want her to get in trouble.
I also didn't know you could buy up to 60 cartons in NH.I never go to NH and don't even know what the price difference is.
I will not pay any taxes on my online purchases. They can kiss my A$$.
Screw Social Security reform, this is how we will finance our retirement!
I don't order that much stuff on line....my husband is the one that does.
He pointed something out to me in his newest cigar catalog - "Due to recent legislation we cannot ship tobacco products to Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Maine or Oregon"
I don't know what that's about, but I am expecting a call from them this week telling me when they will be shipping his most recent order, and I do intend to ask the reason.
If the product is created and sold within your State, then additional regulations and taxes would be legal.
The only tax I see being charged by this company are the sales taxes charged by the State of Florida and it's counties.
It's interesting that I have noticed most of these internet tax grabs are primarily directed at cigarettes, and not other tobacco products.
Give them time.
As soon as they ride one revenue horse into the ground, they just jump right on the next one.
Go MAMA!!!!
Explain to me again why laws are not legal.
As a highly skilled professional CDL driving instructor I must remind you to take your 4 wheel drive rocket to a race track and let off steam..Wouldn't mind going with you...If you're as highly skilled as you say, you know that its not the "HIGHLY SKILLED" drivers we have to worry about.....its the all the other morons with heads up posteriors that out number the good drivers 100K to one.
4.3 MILLION verifiable log book miles in four season weather, gives me a little different prospective,too. I'm sick and tired of worrying about my wife coz the boys the in pocket rockets are playing friggin NASCAR in the left on the local expressway at 85 plus. I know I'm not ever gonna change the way things are.....
I really get irate that the fines for disobeying the Motor Vehicle Code are so meager. Chump Change. You wanna run a stop sign.....fine...If I catch ya its gonna be a grand and 5 points.....you have one point left...betcha you dont run that stop sign again...
Think we oughta close donut shops, too.....get the boys in blue to police the highways. :-)
I'm not sure, but it may be because of what's happening (in Maine at least), per this thread posted by SheLion.
From my layman's reading of the Jenkins act, it seems to cover specifically cigarettes, and not loose tobacco or tubes.
Never said that. I said there is a difference between LEGAL and LAWFUL.
America was created with TWO distinct and different sets of laws.
ONE set of laws for the people. Natural law, as the Founders referred to it. Founders such as Noah Webster:
Noah Webster, the man personally responsible for Art. I, Sec. 8, ¶ 8, of the U. S. Constitution, explained two centuries ago:
The duties of men are summarily comprised in the Ten Commandments, consisting of two tables; one comprehending the duties which we owe immediately to God-the other, the duties we owe to our fellow men.
So as long as you didn't violate:
SIX: You shall not murder
(not to be confused with self defense)
SEVEN: You shall not commit adultery
(breach of contract)
EIGHT: You shall not steal
NINE: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
TEN: You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor's
(conspiracy)
You commited no 'crime'.
(Haven't you ever wondered WHY due process doesn't kick in unless you've violated one of these?)
Natural law is also referred to as common or civil law.
The other set of laws was the ones for the government, is referred to as positive law. Positive law is created BY man. The Constitution is positive law, along with Codes, Acts, Ordinances, etc.
Positive law is also referred to as STATUTORY law.
Find a legal dictionary & look up words like positive law, natural law, crime & license.
Most folks will be quite surprised by what it says.
That's all I'm going to bother with for now. You have obviously not bothered reading any of my posts. You have been condescending and insulted my intelligence repeatedly.
Any further gains in your knowledge of the law is up to you.
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