Midnight Mike
2008-04-28, 09:31 AM
April 27, 2008 -- Tax-free cigarettes from Indian reservations will go up in smoke if some in Albany get their way.
Lawyers for a state lawmaker and Gov. Paterson are scheduled to face off in an upstate courtroom tomorrow in a case aimed at forcing the state to follow the law and collect sales tax on every pack sold by the 200 or so reservation stores and via the Internet.
Last year, roughly 304 million packs of cigarettes were sold by New York's Indian tribes - and, as has been the practice for years, not a penny of tax was collected.
As the state tax rises to $2.75 a pack - the highest in the nation - on June 3, New York would be forfeiting about $836 million in annual revenue by choosing not to collect taxes from reservations. In the city, the tax is $1.50 more.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272008/ne ... 108291.htm (http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272008/news/regionalnews/cig_break_brawl_108291.htm)
Lawyers for a state lawmaker and Gov. Paterson are scheduled to face off in an upstate courtroom tomorrow in a case aimed at forcing the state to follow the law and collect sales tax on every pack sold by the 200 or so reservation stores and via the Internet.
Last year, roughly 304 million packs of cigarettes were sold by New York's Indian tribes - and, as has been the practice for years, not a penny of tax was collected.
As the state tax rises to $2.75 a pack - the highest in the nation - on June 3, New York would be forfeiting about $836 million in annual revenue by choosing not to collect taxes from reservations. In the city, the tax is $1.50 more.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272008/ne ... 108291.htm (http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272008/news/regionalnews/cig_break_brawl_108291.htm)