You know how the big thing right now is buying cigarettes on-line to avoid paying tobacco taxes in your home state? I know a lady that buys her cigs from some Indian reservation and gets them for $15 a carton.
In Michigan, the loss of revenue has prompted lawmakers to send tax bills to those unsuspecting smokers.
Hundreds of Michigan residents are getting a big surprise this tax season--hefty tax bills for cigarettes they bought online over the past four years.The state sent the bills to 553 residents last week after subpoenaing 13 online tobacco shops for names of Michigan customers and their order histories, a Michigan Treasury Department spokesman Caleb Buhs said on Friday. The tax bills are based on information from just one store, and the state expects to collect more names from the others.
Collectively, the people receiving this first round of bills owe the state $1.4 million, an average of $2,500 per person, Buhs said. They have until March 14 to pay.
"At its most fundamental level, this is an issue of tax fairness," State Treasurer Jay B. Rising said in a statement. "It is only right that out-of-state vendors, who conduct business only online and at arms length, follow the letter of the law. These taxes are collected by brick-and-mortar businesses in Michigan, and Internet vendors should not be allowed to skirt their responsibility."
I like how he says "tax fairness". There is no such thing. No tax is fair. I think he's just mad because the free market found a way to circumvent opressive taxes. It's definately not fair to the mostly middle class who are trying to save a buck or two on a pack of cigarettes. These taxes are just punitive and fund politicians pet projects.
Maybe Jay Rising should take some economics courses and learnd about supply, demand, and free market fources at work.
Here is some good information on smoking bans and smoking taxes
