Smoker? Here's Your $10,000 Tax Bill

If you buy something over the Internet and the product is shipped from another state, you usually don't pay sales tax on your purchase. You probably should, but jurisdictions are as ill-defined as the law is murky and hard to enforce — so online retailers and customers skip the tax part. This is arguably good for the economy at large (lower prices equal more sales), but State Attorneys General don't want to hear that. Forty-four of them are meeting in Washington this month to start figuring out how to collect their precious tax revenue.

Inevitably, they've already been going after one group of consumers that can be maligned and kicked around with impunity: smokers. The Chicago Tribune writes that tax collectors from all over are telling smokers to stop coughing long enough to start coughing it up. That's right: the people who've had the temerity to buy tobacco products through sites like cheapsmokesbymail.com, cigs4free.com and notaxsmokes.com owe back taxes on their purchases, and they've begun receiving notices to that effect. The amounts are substantial, painful even; some smokers are being hit with a S10,000 tax bill. In most cases, governments sleuths tracked down these contemptible nicotine fiends after subpoenaing online cigarette vendors.

"In Illinois, about 1,300 people who bought cigarettes over the Internet are about to be notified that they must pay the state's 98-cent-per-pack tax, an Illinois Department of Revenue spokeswoman said. The collection effort is part of a stepped-up campaign by states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Oregon, to capture millions of dollars of unpaid cigarette tax revenue —as much as $2 billion annually — from hundreds of thousands of people who buy the cheap smokes over the Internet and avoid dramatically higher cigarette taxes in their home states. In January, New York City's Department of Finance notified about 3,700 people that they had skirted the city's $3-per-pack tax by purchasing over the Internet. Some owed as much as $10,000 in unpaid taxes. Ohio has targeted 1,000 people for non-payment of cigarette taxes."

Now, how have you broken the law lately? Chances are you're not a smoker (neither am I), and thus you have no need to shop at notaxsmokes.com. But perhaps you recently bought something from, say, Amazon? If so, did you fork over the sales tax? Uh-oh. But relax, it's OK, the authorities won't come after you or me for unpaid taxes on that Abraham Lincoln biography or that Wilco CD. They wouldn't dare — harassing us ordinary buyers would stir the pot too much; seeing as you and I actually have some political clout by our sheer numbers, things could get hairy for the taxmen. But people who smoke cigarettes? No problem. You can fuck 'em over as often as you want, no questions asked. Never mind that they tend to be from the lower socio-economic groups and typically don't have deep pockets. Smokers are tax extractors' ever-giving human piggybank — an unprotected, unloved group of poison-breathing schmucks who deserve not an iota of consideration as long as they still have a dollar in their pockets.

And don't assume for a second that all that revenue goes to tobacco awareness programs. States spend all but a sliver of it on debt service and budget shortfalls.

Speaking of spending, I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of dollars it costs to fly 44 State Attorneys General to Washington DC on an all-expenses-paid trip complete with security personnel, assistants, catering, and first-class hotel rooms. As long as they're getting together, perhaps their time (and our money) would be better spent on another type of enforcement discussion: making sure corporations pay the taxes they're supposed to, instead of giving them special tax holidays that are sure to cost ordinary citizens billion of dollars. Going after corporate deadbeats is sure to reap greater rewards than singling out savvy Internet shoppers who happen to be smokers.

Comments

[Ed]

One down...more to go...
You're 100% correct on the govt. attacking "low-life" smokers. Since smokers die earlier, maybe they could sue for increased Social Security benefits? Higher checks, or start receiving earlier?; seems fair to me.
On the other hand (or mouth), the next item up for bid shoud be body weight.
Fat people cost more in health services ( insurance premiums), cause more damage in auto accidents, wear out store carpets faster, use more sewer facilities (water pollution), cost more to transport ( airline tickets, city buses.) , require more air-conditioning (higher electric costs), raise shipping costs on merchandise (clothes), and require more landfill space than low-weight people.
So... since I weigh under 140lbs, when can I file for a "low-weight" credit on my 1040EZ ? Since someone can have (6) kids and receive $4,000 plus, am I not entitled to a tax credit for "saving the environment" ? Besides, you don't have to "squeeze-over " when seated next to me on Southwest Air...

[Linda Black]

I purchased some cigarettes on line years ago? Will I now wake up and see huge tax bills mailed to me. Yes, some for me, and some for friends. Now, I am supposed to suffer as a result. I am so dissapointed in Illinois. With the prices of houses, and single smokers who can't even get a decent raise, no wonder why we still smoke. It's all we have left. Why aren't we taxing all the people who refuse to become Citizens of this country? Why aren't we taxing those who drive without insurance. I for one was hit by an immigrant, and 3,000 worth of damage, I was never able to recoup along with another 3,000 in medical. Why was the person who hit me let go in court and free to drive off. Why is ILLINOIS going after the little guys trying to save a few dollars so they can get ahead. They should make the internet sellers pay this tax. Because I think for the majority who purchased cigarettes like myself, we thought they were TAX FREE. But like everything in this state, tolls, taxes, and a loaf of bread, nothing is free unless you aren't a citizen.