Posted on 05/04/2011 11:47:53 PM PDT by brityank
Online cigarette buyers hit with taxes
She lost her job. She lost her husband. She lost her home. And that's when the state Department of Revenue delivered yet another blow, a $9,876 lien on Judy Christy's assets for cigarettes she had bought and smoked years ago.
Ms. Christy, of Butler County, was one of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians caught up in the state's ongoing sweep of people who bought cigarettes by the carton online and failed to pay the state's sales and excise taxes.
Similar sweeps have been carried out in other states.
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As a result of a federal law that requires cigarette vendors to share buyer information with the states, Pennsylvania's Revenue Department learned that Ms. Christy had purchased 232 cartons of cigarettes online between April 2005 and October 2007. The excise and sales taxes she owed on those cartons, plus interest, was $3,928.90.She worked out a payment plan with the state: a $395 down payment in June 2008, then $99 a month after that. She paid until the following spring, which is when she lost her job at Farmers National Bank, she said. Five months later, her husband died, and she moved out of her husband's home ...
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What she owed on the original tax debt, after making nine months of payments, was roughly $2,300 in back taxes. But the state also included in its claim about $7,000 in legal fees, penalties and interest, according to Ms. Christy."I don't have an issue paying them what I owe them," she said. "But where do they get off hitting me for $7,000 in legal fees for a legal filing that costs $125, tops?"
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
How long before they check my water usage to see I cut out the stupid baffles in my toilet? The electric company is already trying to move me to a "smart meter" to govern my use instead of adding more generation.
Ain't freedom great?
The Marxists have clearly taken over; it’s all over but the shouting.
America’s commissars are spending more and more to purchase votes, and Mr. and Mrs. America are being forced to pick up the tab.
Ain’t freedom great?
She totally had the freedom to purchase her cigarettes on line or go to the corner store. She freely purchased on line. Now she just has to pay the taxes. Her freedoms were not stopped.
Ping.
It’s one thing to go after dealers and those reselling for gain, but to target personal use is in my view totalitarian and not in keeping with our freedoms. I admit I too was a criminal - I used to buy my smokes in Delaware and saved about sixty/seventy cents a pack back ten years ago before I quit. Hey I bought my booze in Maryland - oooooh!
She did pay any taxes - just as I did in Delaware when I bought them. Sorry that you seem to think your rulers can make you pay for something they had no involvement with.
Well with that type of cigarette usage, she won't have to worry about this bill much longer. The cancer should be kicking in soon. When Fast Eddie Rendall was blowing through cash faster than we could bring it in, he started shaking the trees for money. There were all types of these "Stop The Tax Cheats" BS maneuvers done. If I were her, I would tell the state to go to hell and not pay them. She is flat broke so she is judgment proof.
>>She freely purchased on line. Now she just has to pay the taxes. Her freedoms were not stopped.<<
Do you buy anything online or mail-order? Do you pay your state’s taxes on those purchases?
Are you perfect? Do you think the punishment fit the crime?
You must be young and still trust government as the high moral standard.
That quote is so applicable right now, it makes my heart ache.
Sorry that you seem to think your rulers can make you pay for something they had no involvement with.
Read your first sentence on your post.....non English for sure. Anyway, you don’t think that Pennsylvania had anything to do with this. Did they magically get to her home? Did the truck not drive on Pennsylvania roads during delivery? Did they come by the Postal System? Did Pennsylvanians handle the boxes at all? You see Pennsylvania DEFINITELY had something to do with the process.
Maybe she was reselling them down at the bowling alley.
Heh, I have family that always stops in California to load up on alcohol when they are passing through so they can stock up. With our own government-run booze cartel, our prices in OR are close to double that in CA. I should tell them to start paying in cash just to be sure to leave zero paper trail.
Horse sh**! If she drove to another state and bought the cigs her home state couldn't tax her, there should be no tax from your home state when you buy online either, no matter what the product. This is just another way for the state to rip the sh** out of their law abiding citizens, we are all taxed to much already, we need to put a stop to this type of BS.
Instead, we have brain dead a**hats such as you cheering for the state.
Yes they could or would, there have been both booze and cigarette patrols on I-83 at the PA/MD line and people have been caught, not truckloads but a few bottles from Maryland or a few cartons from Virginia for personal use. They stopped the patrols for the most part because they weren't getting good returns and price differences started to level out..
Instead, we have brain dead a**hats such as you cheering for the state.
I am not cheering the state. I am just being factual and not being emotional as yourself.
democrats in action
Pinging - Of possible interest?
True, provided the government uses tax money to protect her natural rights. Unfortunately, the government steals the money to buy trinkets for others. I guess the slaves were free. They just had to follow the law and work every day at their master's plantation.
That’s roughly 5 (five) packs a day. She must have a wonderful speaking voice.
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