"New York has traditionally had the highest cigarette taxes in the nation," said Patrick Fleenor, chief economist at the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan tax research group in Washington, D.C. "It's also the state with the most significant smuggling problems."
The state tax on a pack of cigarettes jumps today from $1.50 to $2.75, making it the highest tax in the country. In Central New York, a typical pack of smokes will cost about $7.
New York City charges an additional $1.50 excise tax, so the cost of a pack of cigarettes there will hover around $9.
At those prices, experts predict that many smokers will try to find ways to buy cheaper, untaxed cigarettes. Historically, when taxes surge, so do black-market cigarette sales. (Full Story at syracuse)
I'm not for people smoking; its just a bad idea in general. That said, I have a serious problem with the government policing my choices. They aren't banning smoking in NYC, but the tax is a round about way to force people to quit. Add to this the fact that they are knowingly creating a black market and this just becomes a ridiculous tax.
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