"Sin" taxes should be illegal, let alone taxing something MORE than the cost of manufacture
Posted on 01/10/2013 2:41:18 PM PST by GlockThe Vote
New York has the highest cigarette tax rate of any state, and nearly two-thirds of the state's cigarette market is illegal, announced the think tank Tax Foundation on Thursday.
The Tax Foundation said that 60.9% of cigarettes sold in New York State are smuggled in from other states.
This makes New York the biggest importer of black market cigarettes, along with the state's highest tax rate of $4.35 per pack. That's compared to Missouri, the state with the lowest rate, of 17 cents per pack.
In New York City the tax rate is even higher, adding another $1.50 per pack to the state rate. It's not uncommon for smokers to pay $12 for a pack.
The report said that tobacco smuggling and the tax rate have risen practically in tandem since 2006. The New York State tax on cigarettes has risen 190% since that time, as the rate of smuggling increased 170%.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Funny how the rate of smuggling went up directly in relation to the tax increases.
cuomo and bloomers taxes themselves right out existence. People will find a way around tyranny.
Yup. And bloomie and Cuomo think a law will keep guns out. LOL!!!!
Prohibition creates criminality.
Unintended consequences. But the average non-politician could have seen this from space.
Correct - I live here and every bodega and little shop sells under the counter cigs to avoid the ridiculous taxes.
Heck - remember the opening sceen of Goodfellas?
But... but... that can’t be since there are laws against that!!
I think we need to put a serial number on each cigarette and require smokers to be registered. They can only buy 1 pack a day. They need to take a course in fire safety, too, and pay a carbon tax.
Politicians NEVER learn. 90% are a bunch of idiots.
I’ve had cigarette packs with Cyrillic writing, Chinese characters, and some with no stamp at all. In Newark they still sell “loosies” (individual cigarettes); I could imagine what they cost now.
NJ is just too small a state to try to screw its own people; it is too easy to reach Delaware from the south (no sales tax), PA to the west (cheap cigarettes - they return the favor by coming here for cheaper gasoline), and NYC to the east (cheap marijuana). Years ago they were considering charging people for salt-water fishing licenses; cooler heads prevailed when it was pointed out how easy it was for anyone coming from the west to just detour around us to other coastal states.
Yup. I live in this leftist hell hole. These idiots never learn.
I know - I live here - its like a communist 1984 esqe existence
"Sin" taxes should be illegal, let alone taxing something MORE than the cost of manufacture
Instead of comparing this to Prohibition, instead if you go back further you will find that smuggling is *patriotic*!
Even before the American Revolution, Americans were renowned for their smuggling skills to evade crown taxation.
In the mercantilism of the colonial system, the colonies existed to enrich the mother country. Restrictions were placed on what the colonies could manufacture, whose ships they could use, and most importantly, with whom they could trade.
British merchants wanted American colonists to buy British goods, not French, Spanish, or Dutch products. In theory, Americans would pay duties on imported goods to discourage this practice. The Navigation Acts and the Molasses Act are examples of royal attempts to restrict colonial trade. Smuggling is the way the colonists ignored these restrictions.
They passed laws regulating colonial trade, but they knew they could not easily enforce them. It cost four times as much to use the British navy to collect duties as the value of the duties themselves.
Colonists, particularly in New England, thought nothing of ignoring these laws. Ships from the colonies often loaded their holds with illegal goods from the French, Dutch, and Spanish West Indies.
When smugglers were caught, they were often freed by sympathetic American juries. Smuggling became commonplace. The British estimated that over £700,000 per year were brought into the American colonies illegally.
As 1776 approached, the tradition of smuggling became vital to the Revolutionary cause. This encouraged ignoring British law, particularly in the harbors of New England. American shippers soon became quite skilled at avoiding the British navy, a practice they used extensively in the Revolutionary War.
Soon England began to try offenders in admiralty courts, which had no juries. All attempts to crack down merely brought further rebellion.
These days when people rob convenience stores, they sometimes eschew the cash (which is never much) and go for the cigarettes, which have become ridiculously expensive due to federal, state and local taxes.
A pack of cigarettes costs the producer less than a nickel and the consumer an hour's wages, thanks to hysteria.
I am surprised that some of these Lib states have not tried to collect cigarette taxes from former smokers.
They could claim that, though the cessation of smoking is good, the state needs the tax money and the smoker inadvertently contracted with the state to provide a continuing stream of tax money by continuing to smoke for a number of years. A later cessation of smoking does not void that implied obligation.
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Hey, the states are desperate.
They will try anything they think they can get away with.
They have already sent tax bills to those who purchased non-taxed cigs.
Wish I could find it.
The tax foundation can say what it wants, but officially, smoking in NY has decreased by 60%!
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