Cigarette taxes are up -- so is smuggling
source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.cigarettes15aug15,0,6428520.story
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When Maryland doubled the cigarette tax to $2 a pack, some residents may have found a reason to quit. Smugglers, on the other hand, seem to have found a motive to step up their activities.
Since the tax increase took effect in January, agents with the Maryland Comptroller's Office have seized more than 46,000 packs of contraband cigarettes - smokes brought illegally across state lines. That's a nearly four-fold increase from about 13,000 packs seized over the same period in 2007.
And in the largest bust so far this year, agents confiscated nearly 8,000 cigarette packs after stopping a man driving a Chevrolet Astro van on Interstate 495 this month.
State officials say they would be hard-pressed to blame the sharp rise in smuggled smokes solely on higher taxes, but they suspect that the levy is a factor. Maryland has one of the highest tobacco taxes in the nation; neighboring states have some of the lowest.
Virginia's levy, for instance, is 30 cents a pack. That means a carton in the Old Dominion is $17 cheaper than in the Old Line State, creating an opportunity for smugglers to make a quick buck by selling out-of-state cigarettes here.
"It's just become even more profitable for smugglers now," said Jeffrey A. Kelly, director of the comptroller's field enforcement division, adding that his agents on surveillance duty also have spotted more Maryland residents in Virginia buying cigarettes.
Since the tax increase took effect in January, agents with the Maryland Comptroller's Office have seized more than 46,000 packs of contraband cigarettes - smokes brought illegally across state lines. That's a nearly four-fold increase from about 13,000 packs seized over the same period in 2007.
And in the largest bust so far this year, agents confiscated nearly 8,000 cigarette packs after stopping a man driving a Chevrolet Astro van on Interstate 495 this month.
State officials say they would be hard-pressed to blame the sharp rise in smuggled smokes solely on higher taxes, but they suspect that the levy is a factor. Maryland has one of the highest tobacco taxes in the nation; neighboring states have some of the lowest.
Virginia's levy, for instance, is 30 cents a pack. That means a carton in the Old Dominion is $17 cheaper than in the Old Line State, creating an opportunity for smugglers to make a quick buck by selling out-of-state cigarettes here.
"It's just become even more profitable for smugglers now," said Jeffrey A. Kelly, director of the comptroller's field enforcement division, adding that his agents on surveillance duty also have spotted more Maryland residents in Virginia buying cigarettes.
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lordsbassman
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$17 cheaper. wow thats crazy!
- 3 years ago
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lordsbassman
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