sales tax on cigarettes

[JACEE34]

I AM A RESIDENT OF wASHINGTON STATE ONLY BECAUSE I PREVIOUSLY OWNED A HOME THERE, I STILL HAVE A WA. DRIVERS LICENSE AND AM STILL REGISTERED TO VOTE. I AM A TRUCK DRIVER AND SPEND LESS THEN 3 DAYS A MONTH IN WASHINGTON, I DO HAVE A PO BOX THERE. I ORDER CIGARETTES ONLINE FROM NEW YORK STATE AND NOW WASHINGTON WANTS SALES TAX ON THE CIGARETTES. THE TAX BY THE WAY IS 3 TIMES WHAT I PAY FOR THE CIGARETTES. AM I LIABLE FOR THESE TAXES?

[hermit1]

Your residency should be determined on where you spend most of your time, where you own property, or more simply, where you pay taxes. You own property and can vote in WA, sounds to me like you are a resident of said state.

Why would you bother with spending 3x more for cigs when you could just buy them somehwere else? If you are that concerned, cancel your order and go to a gas station.

IMHO

[anteater]

Originally Posted by JACEE34

AM I LIABLE FOR THESE TAXES?

Yes.

Buying online does not exempt you from paying sales tax. Check this thread for more info.

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=262373&highlight=internet[/url]

[JACEE34]

i don't own any property in Wa state nor do i spend the majority of my time there. I am still a registered voter and caryy a Wa drivers license. My main objection to the taxes is they are asking for $1234 dollars for 5 cartons that I purchased months ago, the tax sounds excessive and I guess I am confused about why they can make me pay taxes on cigarettes but they dont charge you tax on other online purchases

[anteater]

Originally Posted by JACEE34

My main objection to the taxes is they are asking for $1234 dollars for 5 cartons that I purchased months ago,

Now you know why it is an unhealthy habit.

...the tax sounds excessive and I guess I am confused about why they can make me pay taxes on cigarettes but they dont charge you tax on other online purchases

Don't worry, when it becomes cost effective, states will be tracking people down for payment of sales/use tax on other online purchases. For smokes, it just happens that there is a federally-mandated reporting mechanism in place requiring vendors to report out-of-state sales to the respective state goverments. And high state taxes on cigarettes make it cost effective to pursue collection.