Pity the smokers in California, home of one of the US’s top cigaratte tax rates. Why not buy the cigarettes over the Internet and save on the tax?
That’s not a bad idea, except that the Board of Equalization, California’s watchdog agency for cigarette taxes, is auditing out-of-state companies shipping cigarettes into California. (The Federal Jenkins Act allows California review online vendors’ invoices.) And they’re sending bills to Californians. The BOE estimates that it will collect $52 million from California smokers.