A
couple of years ago when states and cities began to increase taxes
beyond insanity I warned this would become a steady business. The more
taxes are raised on cigarettes the more active it becomes. No matter
how you feel about smoking; economics are a reality. Sure they will
pick up and arrest to make public spectacle of a few smugglers but
meanwhile billions of dollars in lost taxes will cross state lines for
sale on the black market. Controlling these kinds of things purely with
taxes never works. Worse because of the smuggling States who attempt
to capture more tax money by raising taxes lose tax revenue on what
would have otherwise been legitimate sale
The wide variation in state taxes has created a lucrative criminal business. Would it be less prevalent if taxes were lower?
CBS News
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