I may be a baseball fan, but this post has nothing to do with the Cleveland Indians. Rather, here’s the latest chapter in New York’s war against Indian tribes selling cigarettes. In June, a New York Appellate Court lifted an injunction that prevented New York from collecting cigarette taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations in the Empire State. The Indian tribes vow an appeal, but unless this ruling is reversed, Indian tribes must collect tax on cigarettes imported onto their reservations.
So the tribes plan on emphasizing their own manufactured cigarettes. Because those are made on Indian lands, they are exempt from New York sales tax.
Meanwhile, New York has begun seizing tobacco products heading to Indian reservations that lack appropriate tax stamps. The total value of tobacco products seized was $1.2 million; this would have resulted in just under $300,000 of tobacco taxes collected by New York.
I doubt we’ve heard the last of this battle.