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New York Tobacco Tax: Drastically Unfair with Misleading Results

March 27, 2012

From the beginning of the Legislature’s crusade, experts, special interest groups, and media outlets have warned of the negative repercussions which emerge out of raising OTP and cigarette taxes to such high levels. Now, more than ever, it is time to hear the ignored voices of the small businesses which are being, or have been, crushed by a disregarding governmental hand.

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Cig-taxed NYers run for border – Paterson’s Tax Windfall Up In Smoke!

August 12, 2010

Tax-choked smokers are fleeing over the border and onto Indian reservations in search of discount cigarettes and sending Gov. Paterson’s anticipated tax windfall, well, up in smoke. Cigarette sales statewide have tumbled by nearly a third since New York’s highest-in-the-nation cig tax of $4.35 took effect on July 1, according to state tax data and sales reports released yesterday by retailers.

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New York Small Business Owners Speak Out Against 90% Tax

June 20, 2010

New York Tobacconists Association gathered to speak out against an increased state OTP tax that would put them out of business and would lose money for the state. Shot at De La Concha in Manhattan by the European Cigar Journal.

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Danger Lies In Tobacco Tax

June 16, 2010

Politicians expand tobacco taxes to discourage smoking and to feed their own nicotine-like addiction to public spending. Like so many others, this government action smolders with unintended consequences. Tobacco taxes create a perfect arbitrage opportunity that radical Muslims exploit to collect money for terrorist groups

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New York Gov Eyes Emergency Cigarette Tax

June 16, 2010

The New York Post reports this morning that Governor Paterson may include a $1-a-pack tax hike on cigarettes in his next round of emergency spending legislation.

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Senate Report: Why New York Fails to Collect Cigarette Taxes on Native American Reservations

June 12, 2010

New York State faces a $9 billion shortfall while failing to collect taxes on the billions of dollars worth of cigarettes sold by Native American reservations. Why? Headed by chairman Craig Johnson, the New York State Standing Committee on Investigations takes a close look at why we’re not collecting these taxes. Read the report, share […]

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Carl Kruger takes Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner to Task On Native American Cigarette Tax Collection

February 4, 2010

Senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), Chair of the Finance Committee joined a broad-based coalition of small business, labor, health, and good government groups on the steps of City Hall to ask Governor Paterson to begin a “timely” implementation of his promise to collect the tax on cigarettes sold by Native Americans to people outside the reservations. You can watch the video right here…

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Gristedes Chief Still on Warpath on Cheap Indian Cigarettes

November 19, 2009

Led by its Greek-born owner and C.E.O., John Catsimatidis, a longtime New York City mayoral wannabe who smokes an occasional cigar, Gristedes Foods Inc. has claimed in protracted litigation that Indian merchants on two Eastern Long Island reservations are luring away New York customers, and even helping to fund organized crime gangs and terrorist groups like Hezbollah with bulk sales

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Illegal Tobacco – Does the Press Get it?

November 18, 2009

It is simply amazing to us how conventional wisdom, devoid of any data that would suggest its veracity, begins to permeate in certain quarters. So it is with the issue of Indian cigarette retail tax avoidance. When we last left the discussion, Senator Carl Kruger was presenting a demand note to the governor to begin enforcing the law forthwith. In making his demand he posited the figure of $135 million per month as a receivable that the state could begin to collect immediately. Soon after Kruger had made the demand, the conventional wisdom hyenas-in the media as well as in government-let loose on the Brooklyn lawmaker, accusing him of vastly inflating these uncollected funds.

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Video: New York Senator Carl Kruger Vows to Collect Cigarette Tax

November 16, 2009

In a meeting today of the New York Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Carl Kruger talked about New York’s budget shortfall and vowed to challenge Governor David Paterson to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on New York’s Native American reservations. You can watch the meeting and Sen. Kruger’s announcement right here.

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