Editorial: Stop New York tribes from untaxed cigarettes

Tuesday, May 31, 2011  

"It's hard to believe that the rampant tax dodging by Indian cigarette dealers could get any worse, but it has. A lot worse.

In the first four months of this year, Long Island's Poospatuck Reservation took delivery of a whopping 2.2 million cartons of untaxed smokes - 22% more than the year before.

That equates to sales of 6.6 million cartons per year, a number that is a mind-blowing two-thirds of the 10 million properly taxed cartons sold in all of New York City in 2010.

And, by law, the Poospatucks are supposed to confine their untaxed sales to tribe members - who number about 300.

The spike in Poospatuck trafficking, as documented by city lawyers, makes a long-awaited crackdown by Albany more urgent than ever."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Mind-boggling leap in buttlegging at Long Island Indian reservation cries out for a state crackdown (The New York Daily News 5/31)

2nd Circuit Decision:
Oneida Nation v. Cuomo (May 9, 2011)

Related Stories:
Seneca Nation leader discusses tobacco tax at UN forum (5/27)
New York judge bars tobacco tax on sales to Seneca Nation (5/10)
2nd Circuit lifts injunction in New York tribal tobacco tax feud (5/9)