Post by Okwes on Feb 9, 2007 11:10:38 GMT -5
Court rejects sales tax lawsuit
By The Associated Press
Friday, December 8, 2006 9:41 AM EST
ALBANY - A suit filed by convenience store operators trying to
compel Gov. George Pataki to enforce tax collections on tobacco
products and gasoline sold to Indian businesses was thrown out by a
state judge last month.
The New York Association of Convenience Stores and two convenience
store chains contended Pataki's failure to collect taxes on the
goods before they reach Indian reservations costs taxpayers $450
million a year and businesses $1 billion a year.
But Ulster County Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanaugh said in a
Nov. 17 decision that the law was intended only to generate state
revenue, not to even the business playing field for convenience
stores located near the reservations. He ruled the association did
not have standing to bring a suit. NYACS President James Calvin said
his group hasn't decided whether to appeal the decision.
However, "NYACS will never abandon our quest for tax fairness for
licensed convenience stores," he said.
Suzanne Morris, a spokeswoman for Pataki, had no comment Thursday on
the decision.
The state tax department earlier this year said that it wouldn't
enforce the law on reservation and Internet sales to non-Indians
until Pataki had more time to settle the long-standing land claims
of several tribes.
An attempt to collect cigarette taxes resulted in violence in the
1990s when the tribes moved to protect their sovereignty.
A study done for the state health department last year found that
more than a third of New York smokers regularly avoid the state's
high cigarette taxes by buying from Indian reservations, the
Internet or duty-free shops. In 2005, 9.5 billion packs of
cigarettes were sold in New York state without being taxed or
stamped.
By The Associated Press
Friday, December 8, 2006 9:41 AM EST
ALBANY - A suit filed by convenience store operators trying to
compel Gov. George Pataki to enforce tax collections on tobacco
products and gasoline sold to Indian businesses was thrown out by a
state judge last month.
The New York Association of Convenience Stores and two convenience
store chains contended Pataki's failure to collect taxes on the
goods before they reach Indian reservations costs taxpayers $450
million a year and businesses $1 billion a year.
But Ulster County Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanaugh said in a
Nov. 17 decision that the law was intended only to generate state
revenue, not to even the business playing field for convenience
stores located near the reservations. He ruled the association did
not have standing to bring a suit. NYACS President James Calvin said
his group hasn't decided whether to appeal the decision.
However, "NYACS will never abandon our quest for tax fairness for
licensed convenience stores," he said.
Suzanne Morris, a spokeswoman for Pataki, had no comment Thursday on
the decision.
The state tax department earlier this year said that it wouldn't
enforce the law on reservation and Internet sales to non-Indians
until Pataki had more time to settle the long-standing land claims
of several tribes.
An attempt to collect cigarette taxes resulted in violence in the
1990s when the tribes moved to protect their sovereignty.
A study done for the state health department last year found that
more than a third of New York smokers regularly avoid the state's
high cigarette taxes by buying from Indian reservations, the
Internet or duty-free shops. In 2005, 9.5 billion packs of
cigarettes were sold in New York state without being taxed or
stamped.