NY state seeks $872 MILLION from UPS because they claim UPS smuggled 683 thousand cartons of smokes into the state.

That works out to $1276.72 in fines for each carton of cigarettes.

Isn't that just a little more than they collect in taxes on the legal smokes ?

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...=referral&utm_source=morefromreuters


Mike

Maybe New York State ought to reduce the taxes on the smokes and not make it so lucrative for people to smuggle them into the state and sell them.....

Silly idea. What was I thinking?

I think it's BS to hold the carriers responsible for what's in every package; there are 10's of millions every day. Last time I checked, UPS and FedEx were NOT law enforcement agencies, or government tax collectors. This is bullsheitt...The government needs to do their own work, not make rules to have everyone else do it for them.

I worked for UPS for 12 years and watched them turn a blind eye to large scale shipments of marijauna from Mexican gangs in California. 150 40lb boxes next day air Saturday delivery every week. I don't feel a bit sympathetic for UPS. They were terrible to work for too.

If the box isn't labeled "Cigarettes", how can UPS be held responsible? Sure it could be assumed that was what was being shipped but assumptions aren't legally binding. The cops would have to get a warrant to even open the boxes to check. Right?

Holding a carrier responsible for the contents of wrapped packages is as stupid as holding Ruger responsible when a thug uses an LC9 in a robbery.

Neeeew York does covet them taxes
Open for buissness they say
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search...F-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

http://www.tax-rates.org/new_york/excise-tax

Yes, they do.

I lived in upstate NY for a couple of years. My last year there when I did my tax return I carried the numbers to two decimal places and missed the tiny print that said to carry all calculations to 4 decimal places. I therefore underpaid my few thousand dollars worth of taxes by exactly $1.73, then I moved to Idaho.

Six months later I got a very stern letter in the mail demanding that $1.73 plus $100 and change in penalties and late fees. My choices were to pay it or contest it. And btw, if I contested it the late and penalty fees would continue to accrue, and could also lead to criminal prosecution if the judgement were not in my favor. If I chose to pay it I better have the payment back to them by a date 5 days away – about as long as it would take to mail the payment to them if I put it in the mail that day. The letter sounded for all the world like a threat from the Mafia.


Skip forward a year – I also made a small error in my Idaho state income tax and underpaid by $2.00. A few months later I got a polite letter from the Idaho Dept. of Revenue that went something like – uh, excuse us, it seems you’ve made a small error in your taxes. Could you please review our numbers to be sure we are correct? If so, please mail the additional $2.00 by (some date two months later). If you feel we have made an error please call us and we will be happy to discuss this with you. No threats, no late fees, very polite and accommodating overall.

I’m so glad I live in Idaho.

The stupid f*cks in Albany have driven millions of dollars worth of business across the border into Pa. with their retarded tobacco tax. I'm about 20 minutes from the border and damn near everybody I know with a tobacco habit makes weekly or monthly trips into Pa. to buy their smokes and chew. Store owners in Pa. love it and say most of their business is from New Yorkers. There is a smokin' Joe's within a quarter mile on the Pa. side of just about every border crossing. I'm sure it's the same story over along the Vermont border too. With so many people trying any means possible to avoid such a rediculous, overbearing tax, maybe it's time for those retards to reconsider what they've done.

If it were me, and I were UPS, I'd ask NY if they wanted us to continue serving the area, then watch business screech to a halt when I quit. F them.