Tobacco.org

Kruger and Diaz: NY should collect all cigarette taxes 

Sen. Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, hand-delivered a letter Nov. 16 to the governor asking him to rescind a "letter of forbearance" that allows cigarettes sold on Native American land to be untaxed.

Kruger urged the governor to start collecting the taxes by Dec. 1. "The revenue estimated to be generated is more than $135 million for the month of December alone," Kruger said.

He said about 40 million cartons of Native American cigarettes were sold untaxed in the 2008-2009 fiscal year, translating to a loss of as much as $1.6 billion to the state, pointing out a short-term, partial solution to the state's estimated $3.2 billion deficit.

"It would be an instant way of bringing money into the state," Kruger said. "People need to pay their fair share. We spend tens of millions of dollars of tax payers' money on smoking cessation programs. My goal is that no one smokes, but if they are going to smoke, then they should pay the taxes due and buy their cigars and cigarettes in a lawful manner. We should impose a shared burden. Anything short of that is denying the rule of law."

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