Opinion ID: 216352
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: New York Tax Law

Text: New York currently imposes a $4.35 per pack excise tax on all non-exempt cigarettes sold in the State. N.Y. Tax Law § 471(1) (McKinney 2010). The consumer bears the ultimate incidence of and liability for the tax, id. § 471(2), and willful evasion of the tax is a misdemeanor, id. § 1814(f). [1] New York's Department of Taxation and Finance (Department) precollects the tax from a limited number of state-licensed stamping agents, see id. § 471(2), and mandates that these agents be the only entry point for cigarettes into New York's stream of commerce, N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 20, § 74.3(a)(1)(iii) (2010). Stamping agents, often wholesalers themselves, [2] purchase tax stamps from the State and cigarettes from manufacturers. Before selling the cigarettes to other wholesalers or retailers, agents must affix a stamp to each pack of cigarettes to demonstrate payment of the tax. Id. § 74.3(a)(2). Agents incorporate the cost of the stamp into the pack's price and pass the cost along the distribution chain to the consumer. N.Y. Tax Law §§ 471(2),(3).