To what extent are cigarette taxes being dodged?

[grumbler]

But what about mail order cigarettes? A quick search finds places like www.verycheapcigarettes.com, though I have no idea how legit those are.

I have no idea how legit their smokes are, either.  The broken Engrish on this site makes me suspect these are some kind of knock-off smokes with fake labels.

[Norgy]

We have seen your future already here in Norway.
I still fondly remember just having to pay 10 USD for a pack. It's between 11 and 14 USD nowadays. And you can only smoke in reservations in the mountains after being deloused.

Fortunately for you Americans, you don't have Albanians, Estonians, Lithuanians and assorted other newly-liberated/integrated into the wonderful world of entrepreneurial capitalism all too eager to supply the market of nicotine-craving Norwegians with few qualms about supporting organised crime. Unfortunately for you, you still have the Mob.

[ulmont]

I have no idea how legit their smokes are, either.  The broken Engrish on this site makes me suspect these are some kind of knock-off smokes with fake labels.

Gray market, if you're lucky.

[Strix]

Most of the smokers I know buy them from the Indian tribes. No taxes.

Ironically there is only one tiny Indian reservation in all of Texas.  Smokers here = screwed.

NY repealed the tax exempt status for Indian cigarettes here. I guess they could smuggle them in from other states.

I think it was because Turning Stone Casino was making a killing.  Plus they and the Senecas started selling cartons online.

Probably the politicians got their hands on some figures showing how much in taxes they were losing out on.

On the plus side, it killed the cigarette black market in Rochester. Our Vietnamese population had to go back to selling just marijuana.