"New York has the highest cigarette tax in the nation, but about a third of the cigarettes sold in the state aren’t taxed at all — they’re purchased over the Internet or at smoke shops run by the state’s American Indians on tribal land.

Tribes in New York are supposed to collect sales tax from any nonnatives who come onto tribal land to buy cigarettes. But the tribes have long refused to collect the tax. When the state announced that it would begin collecting the money on Sept. 1, the two sides ended up in court. A state judge last week postponed the tax collection so he could further consider the matter.

Robert Odawi Porter of the Seneca nation says it is a small victory in a big fight: "These battles have been going on for more than 200 years and we have fought battles over title to our land, the jurisdiction over our lands, our waters and now our commerce. This is one battle of many."

Customers frequent the busy Onondaga Nation Smoke Shop to avoid paying the $4.35 tax on each pack of cigarettes.

Ben Brown walks out with five cartons for his wife. "I put a nail in her coffin all the time, but she’s still living," Brown says.

He drives here from Ithaca — an hour away. He thinks the state should give up trying to tax tribal cigarettes.

"I’m rooting for the tribes," Brown says. "If the state wants to pay for all the land it took away from the Indians over the history of this thing that’s fine and dandy, then I’ll pay the tax. Until then, the state owes the Indians.""

Get the Story:
New York Tribal Cigarette Sales Under Fire (NPR 9/7)

Relevant Documents:
ATF Letter on Tribal Consultation (May 19, 2010)

Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act:
H.R.1676 | S.1147

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