Buying cigarettes on the internet
Friday, March 03, 2006 at 01:01pmI smoke. I buy my cigarettes, like thousands of other people, on the internet, because the NJ cigarette tax is among the highest in the nation. Read this - it happened to me today. Retroactive to 2003. I’m not even going to say how much the bill is for, but ohmygod. I’m a little confused as to why it is retroactive to 2003, after finding this. Maybe some of you out there could explain it to me? I have no problem paying the government what I owe - hell, I watched My Name Is Earl last night - but I just want to understand why I’m paying what I’m paying.
So, did Philip Morris turn me in? This might be the kick in the ass I need to quit smoking. But first, I need a cigarette, because I am STRESSED OUT. And if you have been buying smokes online in Jersey, consider yourself warned.
Chuck on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Well, you know how I feel about cigarettes. That hatred has evolved over the years though and is now squarely on the cigarette companies. Probably the most crooked loathesome industry in history. Point being, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they turned you in.
Rain on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 1:43 pm
The whole sales tax thing confuses me, and for that I know I will have to, literally, pay one day. Is it illegal to have a friend in another state with lower taxes buy cigarettes for you and send them to you through the mail?
freakgirl on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Probably not, but I don’t know how much you can send through the mail before it becomes trafficking.
We are all going to jail.
Joanne on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Did you really get a bill? How long do you have to pay it? That is insane.
freakgirl on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I really got a bill. A big one. And they’re giving me 30 days to pay it.
Kerry on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 2:47 pm
I think that Shawn got tagged for this a couple of months ago. I’ll talk to him this weekend and see if his taxes were retroactive, too. Seems awfully sketchy for them to calculate it from as far back as ‘03 when the law says it should be from November of ‘05. I think I’d give the accountant a ring on this one, frankly.
freakgirl on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 2:48 pm
I emailed Shawn already, heh.
Jane on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 2:51 pm
No kidding, that notice quite clearly states it applies to shipments made on or after 11/01/05. Mooks!
Lake on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 3:20 pm
If you bought them from Phillip Morris - then they are the ones that turned you in. The states have been after the online sellers and getting the names and addresses of the purchasers to assess straight from them.
Janet on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 3:38 pm
“Is it illegal to have a friend in another state with lower taxes buy cigarettes for you and send them to you through the mail?”
I don’t know about “illegal”, but you are supposed to declare purchases such as those when you pay taxes in order to pay your fair share of state tax.
Sorry to hear it, fg - getting a surprise bill = the suck.
Betty R. on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 5:23 pm
That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard today. Makes me glad I quit in ways, but also- I never knew you could buy smokes online! That seems pretty cool…until now.
Yeti on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 7:35 pm
You still smoke!
I wish you wouldn’t, I wish all my friends wouldn’t.
Janet on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 8:52 pm
And…. I came home to a $20 bill for 2 cartons of clove cigarettes I bought in 2000.
Have I mentioned getting a surprise bill = the suck?
La Gringa on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Okay, I’m sorry you got the bill but dude, why are you still smoking? Dumb stanky habit. Take up something else. Like red wine!
Greater Czarina on Friday, March 03, 2006 at 11:54 pm
That sucks, FG. There’s something frighteningly fascist about unexpected, retroactive tax bills. And the woman in the article has a point…only targeting ciggie buyers and not other, Internet buyers seems really arbitrary and unfair.
xcvxcv on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 7:58 am
makeup mirror
Orange County Plumber
tektronix phaser 850
Joe__ on Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 6:57 pm
… The reason the bill is so high.. You are not being billed the tax on what YOU paid, YOU ARE being billed on the price that you WOULD have paid in NJ, at the time of purchase. Cigarettes are NOT the only thing this applies to. If you buy it out of state it better not have a paper trail, like a Credit Card, or Ebay, Etc.
Read: “The Tax Man Cometh” on Dull-Roar.com, no this is NOT a push for that site, I will provide as much webspace as anyone needs to ‘discuss this topic’ FREE! My bill $2400.00.
Cigarettes I bought for $18.75, I am paying taxes on at $32.65
Joe__
Joe__ on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 7:48 pm
More on the New Jersey State sales tax rip-off. the bill is now $2900. and a collection agency that is falsely using the states stationary to try to collect it. The story, with links to the documents, and the false or should I say counterfeit letter from the state. This is truely amazing. http://Forum.Dull-Roar.com
Joe__