cigarettes discount cigarettes dute free cigarettes cheap cigarettes discount online cigarettes cigarettes online cheap cigarettes buy cigarettes marlboro cigarettes    Web Tobacco Buyers Get Taxed Over the past five years, JJ Demshock, a New Jersey resident who appreciates a good cigar, frequently patronized online tobacco sites in search of new smokes. cheap cigarettes discount And for most of those years, tax collectors in his home state paid him no heed. online cigarettes That's why Demshock was caught off guard two weeks cigarettes ago, when he received a letter from the New Jersey Division of Taxation demanding payment for taxes due on cigars he bought online in late 2001. The state said Demshock was liable for a 48 percent tobacco tax, plus an additional 6 percent sales tax. cigarettes online  "It came as quite a surprise to me," said Demshock, who was not aware that the Michigan-based website that sold him the cigars was passing on information to New Jersey tax collectors. He says he no longer plans to Cigarettes Store patronize the site. But while Demshock might not have cheap cigarettes discount known about the tobacco sales data changing hands, state tax collectors say such information exchanges have been in effect for decades. The practice dates back to the Jenkins Act, a federal law passed in 1949 that requires anyone who sells cigarettes across a state line to an individual or unlicensed discount cigarettes distributor to report the transaction to the state's tobacco tax administrator.  buy cigarettes Nowadays, as more smokers head online to avoid hefty state levies on tobacco sales, tax collectors are getting aggressive about seeking payments from cigarettes online Web sales. But so far, officials say tobacco websites are providing limited cooperation. "In all honesty, there's very little compliance with this statute," said Matt Golden, spokesman for the New Jersey of Taxation. "But some out-of state sellers do provide us with that information and we follow up by billing the purchasers." In the past several years, Golden said the state has sent between 300 and 1,500 letters annually seeking tax payments for out-of-state tobacco purchases. According to a report published in August by the General cheap cigarettes discount Accounting Office, state tax collectors in Rhode Island and Massachusetts have also contacted residents seeking tax payments for cigarettes bought over the Internet. But because most online cigarette vendors don't comply cheap cigarettes with the Jenkins Act, the GAO says states are losing out on millions in potential tax revenue. Officials in one state, California, estimated a tax loss of approximately $13 million from May 1999 through September 2001 because of online cigarettes Internet cigarette vendors not complying with the act, the report said. The state of New York went so far as banning Internet cigarette sales in 2000. A federal appeals court upheld the ban last week, following a challenge from cigarette manufacturers. But because the state has the highest tobacco excise taxes in the nation, many residents continue to buy cigarettes online. dute free cigarettes "Everyone's business exploded when the new tax went in," said the owner of one American Indian-run tobacco site, who said she does not report sales information to state governments. With 17 states recently passing tobacco tax increases, along with New York City, smokers are beginning to feel victimized. "They feel that because they smoke they're being targeted with the tax increase, so they won't give anything to the states or the city," she said. As for Demshock, he's not objecting to the state's request for some tax payment on his online cigar purchase. However, he believes the amount the state is requesting -– which exceeds 50 percent of his purchase price -– is excessive. marlboro cigarettes Although he sent a check to cover the taxes, the New Jersey financial analyst has requested that state refund part of the money. He believes the 48 percent tax was meant to apply to wholesale tobacco sales, not retail purchases cheap cigarettes discount. Golden disputes this interpretation, saying the state tax should be based on the retail price, not the wholesale price. buy cigarettes marlboro cigarettes Either way, Demshock says that dealing with the tax mess has made his main motive for shopping online -- the convenience -- somewhat less compelling.