NYC is the cigarette smuggling capital of the US

[Kent C]

http://nypost.com/2017/11/11/nyc-is-the-cigarette-smuggling-capital-of-the-us-study/

Just a hint of what would happen, on a National basis, when/if an ecig ban, either real or virtual, would occur.

"For 2015, the most recent reporting year, the state lost $1.63 billion because of untaxed sales, according to figures released by analysts for the Tax Foundation.

New York state has a state tax of $4.35 per pack, and the city adds on another $1.50.

Those astronomical cigarette taxes have driven the black market in smokes that cost the city an estimated $740 million in 2015 — and the state about $895 million on top of that..."

Of course:

"City officials say they are aware of the huge extent of the illegal sales, but defend high cigarette taxes as saving lives."

Over 50% of the cigarettes smoked in NYC are black market.

"Still, the Empire State, the report says, “is the highest net importer of smuggled cigarettes, totaling 56.8 percent of total cigarette consumption in the state.”

The report also said that “smuggling in New York has risen sharply since 2006 (59 percent) as has the tax rate (190 percent).”"

 

[Beamslider]

I don't think this is actually a new status. Even years ago NY was the most expensive for cigs. Lots of out of state smuggled cigarettes sold there because of it. Or People going to NJ to buy

 

[bombastinator]

Smuggling cigarettes in NY has been a movie trope since at least the 80s.

 

[stols001]

I always said I wanted to be part of the cigarette mafia, and smuggling cigs is really nothing new. NY and CA the surrounding states are probably overjoyed to get all that (slightly less tax) income. I think I may live to see a day where there is a cigarette mafia, only guess what I no longer want to be a part of it....

Anna

 

[Kent C]

The study compared 2015 to the similar 2006 study and NY went from #5 to #1, so that was the point of the article. It doesn't say they weren't up in the ranks before, just that now they're No. 1. And the considerable tax "lost" as a result.

My main point for posting has more to do with how a black market will develop if/when, ecigs are banned or severely limited or taxed.

#1 - New York
#2 - Arizona
#3 - Washington
#4 - New Mexico
#5 - Minnesota
#6 - Massachusetts
#7 - California

Cigarette Taxes and Cigarette Smuggling by State, 2015 - Tax Foundation

[for some reason] ..."Note: Alaska, Hawaii, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia are not included in the study." ... although I know Hawaii also has a high cig tax rate - $3.20/pack

 

[r77r7r]

We should be having a Black Market for ecigs here in PA by now. Wonder why we don't.

 

[Marc411]

We should be having a Black Market for ecigs here in PA by now. Wonder why we don't.

Maybe you do and you just don't know it yet. soon there will be a guy/girl wearing a trench coat on the corner and when you walk by they will flash their juice, mods and tanks.... hey mister need a fix

 

[moldyEjuice]

There are some reservations pretty close to NYC that also sell them way below what you pay in NY state.

 

[bombastinator]

I always said I wanted to be part of the cigarette mafia, and smuggling cigs is really nothing new. NY and CA the surrounding states are probably overjoyed to get all that (slightly less tax) income. I think I may live to see a day where there is a cigarette mafia, only guess what I no longer want to be a part of it....

Anna

There already is a cigarette mafia. It’s called the mafia.

 

[bombastinator]

My highly unscientific survey consisting of folks I talk to while vaping implies that at least in Minnesota the high taxes are driving people to vaping, even with those same taxes applied to vaping gear for no pariticular rational reason

 

[Katya]

"City officials say they are aware of the huge extent of the illegal sales, but defend high cigarette taxes as saving lives."

Yeah, because nothing saves lives like a booming worldwide criminal enterprise...

From the same paper:

http://nypost.com/2017/11/01/illicit-cigarette-trade-helps-pay-for-north-koreas-nukes/

He said illicit tobacco was funding “bad actors,” with open source reports showing 15 of the world’s leading terrorist groups regularly rely on illicit cigarettes for funding, including al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Others say ISIS is also funded not only by oil but from the sale of counterfeit cigarettes, as well as pharmaceuticals, cell phones, antiquities and foreign passports. Seizures of cigarettes smuggled into Turkey from Syria rose from ten million to 145 million between 2009 and 2012, with 14 million illegally imported from Turkey confiscated in Bulgaria.

Way to go, New York!

 

[SteveS45]

We should be having a Black Market for ecigs here in PA by now. Wonder why we don't.

Are you sure there is no black market and it just isn't talked about in open forums on the Internet?

 

[sofarsogood]

The FDA wants to use it's existing authority to require that almost all the nicotine be removed from cigarettes. I haven't noticed opposition to that idea. They don't propose to do the same to ecigs. They argue the these two go hand in hand. May be in a few years cigarette smugglinng will be over.

 

[Rossum]

I know Hawaii also has a high cig tax rate - $3.20/pack

Yeah, but it's kinda tough to fill a van with cases of cigarettes bought in say, VA where the tax is only 30 cents and drive that van to Hawaii.

New York, on the other hand, is only ~250 miles from Virginia and some back of the envelope math tells me that a vehicle like a an MB Sprinter or Ford Transit van will hold nearly 50,000 packs of smokes, while a 53' dry-van semi-trailer would hold close to a million packs...

 

[motordude]

May be in a few years cigarette smugglinng will be over.

Never going to happen.
That’s like saying legal and illegal drugs would stop being smuggled.

 

[stols001]

No I was hoping vaping would be more of a thing, but probably cigs will be smuggled in from other countries and whatnot. I was referring to the fact that the FDA wants to make "low nic" cigs, well some people aren't just going to go for that unfortunately so you are correct....

Anna