Wow, they are really getting desperate! Article on cig "smuggling" incorporates ecigs too!!!

[stylemaster2001]

[h=1]The boom in smuggling to avoid cigarette taxes[/h]

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More than half of the cigarettes sold in New York State are smuggled in from other places to avoid the Empire State's taxes on smokes, which have soared nearly 200 percent since 2006, according to a report issued by the conservative Tax Foundation.
New York is the highest net importer of smuggled cigarettes -- illegal smokes account for 56.9 percent of the state's total market. New York's cigarettes tax is $4.35 per pack, the country's highest. The situation there isn't unique. The Tax Foundation also cites a study that found that 58.7 percent of discarded cigarettes found in five Northeastern cities lacked proper tax stamps.

{MODERATED}

The boom in smuggling to avoid cigarette taxes - CBS News here's the link to the article....amazing.

 

[schuff]

What do they expect people to do when they let FDA approved products to add addictive ingredients to their product for 20 years and then tax it so high the blue collar man can't afford it?

I've also noticed a wave of retailers like walgreens, cvs, publix etc. have recently started charging $1.50 - $2 more a pack compared to gas stations in the area because they don't want to sell them anymore.

 

[Recycled Roadkill]

I find it hard to think of myself as a smuggler of cigarettes when I used to go to Oklahoma and buy 10 cartons at a time to avoid Texas's increased cigarette tax a few years ago, but I suppose that's what I was doing.

Too bad all the evidence has long since been burnt as I've now publicly admitted to this.

I was amazed when Texas started charging sales tax to cigarettes which already had the state tax applied. That's taxing tax but it's okay if it's the government.

Now government is scrambling to figure out how they're going recover tax money lost on the decreasing cigarette sales due to vapers.


One last thing. Government has, for years, subsidized the tobacco industry with farm bills and has, on the other hand, been telling us how dangerous they are. When government wanted to require cigarette packs to print pictures of diseased lungs and other nasty stuff I was totally aghast.

I never have been able to understand why our government could have such different views on smoking. (Actually I do but I'm ranting, right?) And, of course, vaping is so, so bad for us. (See note at bottom of signature.)

 

[klynnn]

Our gov is bought and paid for by corporate interests and will continue that way. We are on a downhill slide that can only get worse.

 

[Kbennett65]

I live in Wisconsin and travel to visit in a friend in North. Dakota a few items a year and I always stocked up on smokes, 70 bucks a carton here and less than 40 there....well that was a no brainer. Never really thought it about it, but I bet it probably was illegal to buy there and bring them back here.

 

[patkin]

Yeh, right its a deterrent for health reasons... now its a money-making scheme... period! Go smugglers... more power to ya.

 

[Myrany]

So lets see does that mean if they apply this to hardware as well I have to throw out my provari at every state line? LMAO not gonna happen.

 

[aikanae1]

Activists such as the American Lung Association, however, argue that no evidence backs up that claim and others, such as e-cigarettes help people stop smoking regular cigarettes. Nonetheless, electronic smokes are surging in popularity, and experts note that should disparities in e-cigarette taxes develop among the states, they could also become attractive to smugglers.
"I would imagine it would be easier to smuggle electronic cigarettes because they are smaller," says Tax Foundation economist Scott Drenkard. "If you have any kind of differential, you are going to see arbitrage."

I'm still laughing!
What an imagination.

 

[VapieDan]

[h=1]The boom in smuggling to avoid cigarette taxes[/h]

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More than half of the cigarettes sold in New York State are smuggled in from other places to avoid the Empire State's taxes on smokes, which have soared nearly 200 percent since 2006, according to a report issued by the conservative Tax Foundation.
New York is the highest net importer of smuggled cigarettes -- illegal smokes account for 56.9 percent of the state's total market. New York's cigarettes tax is $4.35 per pack, the country's highest. The situation there isn't unique. The Tax Foundation also cites a study that found that 58.7 percent of discarded cigarettes found in five Northeastern cities lacked proper tax stamps.
Taxes on cigarettes, which are designed to discourage smoking, vary widely. States such as Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia have levies of less than a $1 per pack. These wide differences make smuggling "both a national problem and a lucrative criminal enterprise," according to the Tax Foundation.

Antismoking activists have long argued that fewer people will buy cigarettes if they're expensive. Chicago recently raised its cigarette taxes for that reason. Combined with state and local levies, the total is now $7.17 a pack.
The smuggling problem "is a lot smaller than the study lets on," said Thomas Carr, director of national policy at the American Lung Association, noting that the Tax Foundation's data come from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which has received funding from the tobacco industry. "Tobacco companies are generally against higher tobacco taxes."
In neighboring New Jersey, convenience store owners are fighting efforts by the state legislature to impose new taxes on e-cigarettes that would nearly double their cost. E-cigarettes fans tout them as a healthier alternative to conventional smokes.

Activists such as the American Lung Association, however, argue that no evidence backs up that claim and others, such as e-cigarettes help people stop smoking regular cigarettes. Nonetheless, electronic smokes are surging in popularity, and experts note that should disparities in e-cigarette taxes develop among the states, they could also become attractive to smugglers.
"I would imagine it would be easier to smuggle electronic cigarettes because they are smaller," says Tax Foundation economist Scott Drenkard. "If you have any kind of differential, you are going to see arbitrage."



The boom in smuggling to avoid cigarette taxes - CBS News here's the link to the article....amazing.

I always find it amusing when the taxes go so high the result is crime aka black market.

 

[aikanae1]

I seriously think there should some sort of certificate, that includes the dumbest comment of the day, that can be sent out to these buffons - with a press release of course. Maybe sent from an unofficial 'anti-terrorist' gang dressed in ski masks with pics. Hey - can't hurt the publicity ecigs are already getting? As long as it's all done in good fun. Make them the joke they are.

 

[sonicdsl]

Moved to Media & General News

 

[rothenbj]

I find it hard to think of myself as a smuggler of cigarettes when I used to go to Oklahoma and buy 10 cartons at a time to avoid Texas's increased cigarette tax a few years ago, but I suppose that's what I was doing.

Too bad all the evidence has long since been burnt as I've now publicly admitted to this.

I was amazed when Texas started charging sales tax to cigarettes which already had the state tax applied. That's taxing tax but it's okay if it's the government.

Now government is scrambling to figure out how they're going recover tax money lost on the decreasing cigarette sales due to vapers.


One last thing. Government has, for years, subsidized the tobacco industry with farm bills and has, on the other hand, been telling us how dangerous they are. When government wanted to require cigarette packs to print pictures of diseased lungs and other nasty stuff I was totally aghast.

I never have been able to understand why our government could have such different views on smoking. (Actually I do but I'm ranting, right?) And, of course, vaping is so, so bad for us. (See note at bottom of signature.)

Delaware had, for the longest time, no sales tax and low excise taxes on cigs. I totally understand your thought process as it was only an hour and a half round trip from here.

The smuggling problem "is a lot smaller than the study lets on," said Thomas Carr, director of national policy at the American Lung Association, noting that the Tax Foundation's data come from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which has received funding from the tobacco industry. "Tobacco companies are generally against higher tobacco taxes."

And the ?non-profit?"health" associations want to keep getting their funding from the Pharma industry and whatever else they can get from the government to keep up the "good fight". After his quotes in this article mentioning where Mackinac gets its funding from, did Carr mention his funding? NO!

 

[Nermal]

My understanding is that you can take Indian made cigarettes off reservation so long as it's four cartons or less without it being smuggling. It's supposed to be exactly the same rule as duty-free shops at international airports. I have never confirmed the legality of this understanding, so don't quote me to your smoking friends.

 

[Vocalek]

Maybe New York's nickname should be changed to "The Evil Empire State."

 

[xxtigerxeyesxx]

d share just found it not sure if it has been posted already CVS ending tobacco sales could boost e-cigarette makers - CBS News what is the thoughts on this move???

 

[Uma]

"Taxes on cigarettes, which are designed to discourage smoking, vary widely..... Antismoking activists have long argued that fewer people will buy cigarettes if they're expensive..... I would imagine it would be easier to smuggle electronic cigarettes because they are smaller,....58.7 percent of discarded cigarettes found in five Northeastern cities lacked proper tax stamps."

Yep, I agree with that commenter, that the ALA is setting the stage to promote for an across the board tax on cigs and eCigs both.
They'll just promote more smuggling though. The WHO already sent out the orders to start fining, and imprisoning cig smugglers, while the cops fight to legalize other ahems.
Isn't it a little funny how they arrived at their exact numbers! Are they going through people's trash, are they already tracking cartons like WHO suggested? How do they track made for smuggling cartons lol?
It's not a very clear article is it. Smuggling in the normal innocent sense has been going on for forever. Smuggling, as in big time smugglers, is ... hmmm, well, they're not doing it right if they're quoting the exact amounts owed the states lol.
Weird article. ALA is pushing for global set taxes, raised at the same time each time, forcing people who won't quit to pay more, and forcing those who did quit to pay more, yet still nobody really quitting at all just like before. The ALA get richer, the people get shafted.

 

[Recycled Roadkill]

ALA is pushing for global set taxes, raised at the same time each time

And yet if business's do that, it's called "price fixing." Sheesh!

 

[Rickajho]

I still don't get the "electronic cigarettes are smaller" thing? Smaller than a breadbox? Well ok then...

 

[Uma]

I still don't get the "electronic cigarettes are smaller" thing? Smaller than a breadbox? Well ok then...

That was one more thing what tipped me to their plot. They'll be easier to smuggle, therefore states will lose money, unless all states tax the same. ...... me off. I wish I could stop reading between the lines with these annntz, but I've been right too many times in the past. Hopefully we will be forearmed and prepared to battle hard.