Unlike
other products purchased online,
cigarettes can only be brought into the
state by a licensed seller who must then
pay the state the $2-a-pack tax.
most countries require that cigarettes sold
wihti n its borders have a stamp affixed to the
pack to signify the payment of taxes.
A good example is Michigan and
Maine which are tied for the fourth-highest
cigarette tax in the United States,
behind Rhode Island, Washington state
and New Jersey, according to the state
Treasury Department. Michigan's tax was
last raised in July 2004, by 75 cents
per pack.
The high
tax prompted thousands of smokers to
seek cheaper cigarettes on the Internet.
Not paying the state tax means a buyer
saves $20 on a carton of 10 packs of
cigarettes. A pack-a-day smoker would
avoid about $730 a year in taxes.
One
Kalkaska woman, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because she said she feared
state tax payments, said the state sent her
a bill for nearly $2,000 in unpaid
cigarette taxes in January. She had
purchased them online from a New York American
Indian tribe.
To pay
the bill, which was due earlier this
month, she said she took out a bank
loan, choosing to pay interest to the
bank instead of the state, which offers
tax cheats who can't pay their entire
bill the option of a payment plan with
interest. She said she has begun rolling
her own cigarettes to save money.
