Jump to full article: Long Island (NY) Business News, 2010-03-12
Author: Michael H. Samuels
Intro: A Nassau County Supreme Court Judge has thrown out a lawsuit against the state for boosting tobacco taxes paid by retailers.
A group of gas station operators sued the state opposing an amended tax law to increase fees for stores selling tobacco from a $100 flat fee to a graduated scale ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 based on the gross sales of all products sold, rather than just tobacco items.
The suit was led by the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association, as well as four other trade associations representing about 10,000 retailers statewide. In September, the associations won a temporary restraining order allowing them not to have to pay the new fees until a judge could determine the impact of the changes to the law.
But Justice Thomas Feinman ruled on Wednesday that the groups did not have standing in the case and they did not prove that their business would be adversely affected by the new fees.
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