Discount cigarettes buy

Currently, smokers are forced to ante up a $2.05 excise tax on each pack of cigarettes sold in New Jersey. But with that levy raised in each of the last two years, Internet sales have cropped up discount cigarettes online as a way to avoid government collectors.
Excise taxes on cigarettes alone are expected to reach $790 million this year, the state Treasury Department said.

"We're trying to do two things here. We're making sure underage kids are not buying cigarettes discount cigarettes online and also to protect legitimate cigarette sellers in New Jersey," said Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who is spearheading the effort. "I think there is a growing problem."
The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Monday is expected to start deliberations on the measure, discount cigarettes online which is similar to legislation pending or enacted in 13 states around the nation.Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon/Warren) told the Trenton Bureau he has not seen the bill but is anxious to have it appear before the Senate Budget Committee.At an estimated 500 sites, a 10-pack carton of cigarettes will sell for just $30 per carton online, while the same brand can cost upwards of $55 in discount cigarettes online stores, according to the news source.State officials have no estimate of how much tax money is lost. But sponsors maintain Internet tobacco sales will cost the 50 states a collective $1.4 billion in 2005, a year in which discount cigarettes online New Jersey is projected to face a $4-billion shortfall.

"It's substantial," Treasury Department spokesman Tom Vincz said of the money, adding his agency has yet to discount cigarettes online rule on the bill. "We are generally supportive of any initiative that will help us enforce an excise tax."The Jenkins Act also places the discount cigarettes online onus on buyers to pay appropriate taxes, not sellers.