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My parents, who are poor and very honest, hard-working people, have been buying cigarettes from “Cheap Cigarettes” and have been picking them up at the post office. Turns out it is illegal to buy cheap cigarettes because they have not been taxed. If you do buy them, you must pay $1.00 plus 7% sales tax or whatever the rate for your state. Because they bought them through the mail, it is also a federal offense. They are being charged with “tax evasion”, thousands in fines , plus penalties, plus the tax on all cartons purchased over the past two years, bringing their bill up over $5000, and are being threatened with a felony + 5 years in jail. Thought you might like to know. The only way you can not pay taxes on cigarettes is if you are a native american. If you are not and purchase cigarettes from a reservation, you are committing tax evasion and can be fined, penalized, and jailed. Adding mail fraud makes it even more fun.
David, you’re wrong. Look it up. It is tax evasion–a state and federal offense. Only native americans can not pay cigarette tax. REALLY. I researched it all morning trying to get my parents out of trouble.
They did not know the reason the cigarettes were cheap was due to them being tax free.
If you buy cheap cigarettes, you have 30 days to remit the taxes on them ($1.50 NY, $1.35 in PA) or you are comitting a felony. Scary.