[Well, another sad story, the guy look's pretty hurt in the picture. If you don't live far from a reservation, you would be much better off, buying them in person, than via mail. Pay cash. Remember the old westerns " White man speak with forked tongue", so can Indians. BTW, I am 1/16 ... Cherokee, ]


State comes for taxes on cigarettes bought online
By: Kori Walter - Times Capital Bureau
08/18/2007


"HARRISBURG - Harry E. Quinn of Rochester says he got burned buying cigarettes from an American Indian-owned company in southern New York.

Looking to save a few bucks, the 57-year-old disabled machine operator started ordering cartons of Kingsley cigarettes from SmartSmoker in 2006.

The company charged just $11.99 per carton; Quinn would have paid $35 a carton at area convenience stores.

But the savings went up in smoke last month when Quinn opened the mailbox at his Reno Avenue home.

Inside the mailbox, Quinn found a notice that he owed the state $2,323.84 for the 144 cartons of cigarettes he had bought from the New York company, which its Web site claims is part of the Seneca Nation and Iroquois Confederacy.

Quinn found out that the cigarettes cost less because the retailer had not tacked on Pennsylvania's $13.50 per carton cigarette tax and a 6 percent state sales tax.

"I think it's a rip-off," said Quinn, who will be sending $58.49 each month to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue for the next three years to pay off his tax debt.

"Now I'm paying for cigarettes that I've already smoked," Quinn said. "You could buy a lot of cigarettes for $2,323."

Quinn is one of 123 Beaver County smokers smoldering over the state revenue department's crackdown on cigarettes bought online or over the phone from companies in other states.

Those local smokers owe a total of $243,755 in unpaid cigarette and sales taxes, according to the department.

"VENDORS COMPLY"

Increasingly more out-of-state cigarette vendors are complying with a federal law that requires them to send state tax officials monthly sales reports, said Stephanie Weyant, a revenue department spokeswoman.

The reports include customers' names, addresses and the quantity of cigarettes bought.

Weyant said Pennsylvania is getting more sales reports thanks to a 2005 federal investigation in Virginia of online vendors and because other states have turned up the heat on retailers shipping smokes across state borders.

Tax collection on online and phone-order cigarette sales was stepped up this year because the 2006-07 state budget included money for stricter enforcement, Weyant said.

Pennsylvania is tracking down residents who have bought cigarettes from out-of-state companies since 2005, Weyant said.

Pennsylvania customers who bought 100 or more cartons received tax collection notices in April, she said. Residents who bought 70 or more cartons received letters at the end of July.

The state has collected nearly $4 million and has set up payment plans to collect $7.7 million more as of Aug. 9, according to the department.

LETTER BLITZ

"It has been very successful," Weyant said of the letter blitz. "We will continue to send out these letters in waves until we have contacted everyone. We are hoping that going forward, people will maybe purchase cigarettes from brick-and-mortar stores in Pennsylvania."

The state collected almost $779 million in cigarette taxes during the 2006-07 budget year and estimates it will haul in nearly $767 million in 2007-08.

With millions at stake, it's no surprise that states are ratcheting up collection efforts, said Arturo Perez, a fiscal analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver.

Smokers have absorbed a total of 72 cigarette tax increases in various states since 2001, Perez said.

In 2004, Pennsylvania raised its cigarette tax to $1.35 per pack from $1 per pack.

"Cigarette tax rates are now much higher than they were five years ago," Perez said. "As a result, the potential loss of revenue for states from nontaxed sales of cigarettes has pushed the degree to which states are willing to pursue those with tax liabilities."


TIMES

This message has been edited. Last edited by: John L,

They're frothing at the mouth to get their tax revenue at the same time they're telling smokers they're not wanted in society. What a bunch of hypocrites.

You have to read the disclaimers and be totally informed.

http://www.smartsmoker.com/content/aboutus.asp

As part of the Seneca Nation of Indians and the Iroquois Confederacy, SmartSmoker is currently not required to collect state sales tax for products sold on Native land. Nonetheless, we are required under federal law to report all sales and shipments of cigarettes to the state taxing authority within your home state. You should contact the taxing authority within your state to determine your tax obligation on the use of these products within your state. LINKS TO STATES TAX DEPARTMENTS

This info is on their "About Us" page; however, it is not posted on their 'shopping cart' form. Perhaps, as a service, it should be posted there also.

Funny thing tho; am looking at a "Lands' End" catolog, they state that they have to collect sales tax for each state. 5 states have no sales tax, 15 states tax on orders before shipping charges, 30 states collect taxes after shipping charges have been added to the total.

New York is one have the states that tax shipping charges.

This whole nonsense is somewhat of a pain in the butt, unless your are a tax specialist.

One of the reasons that I went to MYO is that it occured to me that I was paying a state sales tax on the MSA and Federal excise tax and the state excise tax.

The most the state can do is add a lien on your property to collect the taxes upon the sale of it.

If you have no assets to put a lien against I suppose they could go after your paycheck. If you don't get a paycheck, they are out of luck.

Mortgage property to the max with the intent they actually get nothing.

Work for yourself and you can where ever you please at what cost you can afford.

quote:

One of the reasons that I went to MYO is that it occured to me that I was paying a state sales tax on the MSA and Federal excise tax and the state excise tax.

To make certain that is what is happening, I just went to a local gas station and bought a pack of cigarettes, here is what the cash register receipt looks like:

1 pack cigs.....=4.11
sub total.......=4.11
tax.............=0.30
TOTAL...........=4.41

Indeed, I paid a sales tax(state and local) of about 7.3% on the MSA payment, and the state and Federal excise taxes.

Here in Illinois they are trying to raise the state excise tax about 60 cents per pack.

That would bring in an extra 4 1/3 cents per pack of sales taxes on the extra excise taxes.

There are about 2.8 mil smokers in Illinois, if each smoked one pack per day that is an extra sales tax revenue of about $121,000 per day.

That comes to about $44,457,000 per year in extra sales taxes on taxes.

Not to mention, the Feds are going to(or have) raise the Fed excise tax.

"Anyone who is not depressed does not understand what is going on."
Gary K.

That is the way things are done in Illinois.

For the fun(?) of it,checked my income tax forms.
Federal tax lets you take a deduction for taxes with-held by the state.

Illinois gives you no break for taxes with-held by the Feds. Even tho you never saw the money and never will, you have to pay income tax on that money.

"Anyone who is not depressed does not understand what is going on."
Gary K.

Hi guys,please take a lokk at Cigarettes-cigars.com. Here i have found good and cheap cigarettes, they ship from est and european countries and until now i never paid taxes on my shopping with them. I don't know how but these persons are professionist and ship cigarettes without giving any problem to smokers.

quote:

Originally posted by fabrice:
Hi guys,please take a lokk at Cigarettes-cigars.com. Here i have found good and cheap cigarettes, they ship from est and european countries and until now i never paid taxes on my shopping with them. I don't know how but these persons are professionist and ship cigarettes without giving any problem to smokers.

professionist? definition please?

professionist? definition please?



Professionist; (n) A person who wrote english, but speaks russian.

As of Jan 1, 2008, Wisconsin cigs will increase $1.00/pack. The Indian reservation cigs will increase 30 cents. Currently, I can get a carton at convenience stores for about $34.00. This will rise to $44.00, which I refuse to pay. The current Reservation cigs are about $30.00, so I'll drive 120 miles round trip and buy about 3 cartons at a time for about $100. I'll be in person, and pay cash. Until the bastards start taking names, this should be OK. Incidentally, when I began smoking in 1974, a pack of cigarettes cost 40 cents..........

Pat, have you tried RYO?

I used to think, blaaaah, but now that I've started, I'll never go back. Cheaper, too.