There's only so much oppression the people will take before an anti-oppression black market springs up to free the people. The latest evidence of this is the non-taxed NYC black market in cigarettes.
A special unit of the city Finance Department that conducted a sweep of 1,700 stores licensed to sell tobacco products found an astounding 42 percent either peddling untaxed cigarettes or using counterfeit stamps to duck the combined $5.85 city-state tax,reports NyPo.
“It’s a reflection of the desperation of some store owners” trying to make ends meet in a jurisdiction with the highest cigarette tax in the nation, said Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores.
There are fewer smokers now than in 2003, but still the tax revenue drop in recent years has been dramatic. The city took in $158.5 million from its share of the cigarette tax in 2003. Last year, collections were down to $69.8 million, a 56 percent drop.
A fully taxed pack of Newports was selling yesterday for $10.75 at the Optimo shop on Park Row across from City Hall.
An illegal pack can go for as little as $5, according to NyPo.
The Nazi-Bloomberg administration also has sued residents for buying untaxed cigs on the Internet and has cracked down on “roll your own” tobacco shops.
What is the unseen cost of enforcing that tax? 1700 stores takes a lot of regulators/collectors. Prosecuting people for buying cigs online, more $. In the end, the city is probably spending more on the law than the tax brings in. They are helping starve the beast!
ReplyDeleteLet them eat cigarettes.
ReplyDeleteNew Yorkers should come to Oklahoma to buy their cigarettes. The tribal governments sell cigarettes without state or local taxes, so they're very cheap. Non-tribal members are free to buy them, too.
ReplyDelete