Farewell Sutliff Tobacco Company - Monday 3/4/25

[ClinchKnot]

Can I interest you in a “brotherhood”?

That one drives me bonkers. Absolutely nuts.

 

[Brad H]

I was audited in 1989. All of my income was 1099. I had taken half of my two bedroom loft apartment as home office, which was factual, and I had some serious medical bills related to a knee injury. I think those two things flagged me.

One of the bedrooms was converted to a darkroom, and half the loft was workspace, storage and studio. It was in a shady part of town, with frequent car break-ins, even worse if the perps didn't recognize your car or it had out of state or government plates. I was always doing beer runs for the old heads down the alley, which made me OK with the locals, so my car was generally safe. I opted to have the audit at my "place of business", and told the IRS woman that they sent out that it was safe to park on the sidewalk off the alley next to my building. The first day, she got a ticket for parking on the sidewalk, and I dug out a big box of receipts that I had never gone through. She worked diligently, occasionally burping out how many thousands I owed the IRS. The next day, I pulled out more receipts as her car was getting broken into.

Bit by bit, the total owed kept dropping, until the IRS owed me money. Not a lot at all, but enough to make her visibly upset and angry. She said she needed to return the next day, but I told her that she should really check on her car. I just got to see the silent version of her discovery from my second floor window, but it was a frenetic performance of arm waving unrivaled by Marcel Marceau. She never returned, and I got a check for $17 a month later. I hadn't cheated on my returns, there was no fraud, just some disallowed medical expenses that I was able to prove correct, and the big boxes of receipts.

Glad the system worked out for you there.

 

[OverMountain]

It’s called “sir Walter raleighing” a blend.

Now it’s pure vinegar trash. Thank god the aromatic is largely untouched.

That STG screws up the blends? 100%

 

[STP]

Just stocked up on some favorites to last a few yrs.

 

[Choatecav]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but Sutliff is on the vendor list for the upcoming Muletown Pipe Show in Columbia, TN. on March 15 - 16.
Why would they have a representative at the show??

 

[sfduke]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but Sutliff is on the vendor list for the upcoming Muletown Pipe Show in Columbia, TN. on March 15 - 16.
Why would they have a representative at the show??

My guess it will be STG at Muletown.

The sponsorship most likely occurred sometime last year before the planned closure announcement.

 

[sablebrush52]

It’s called “sir Walter raleighing” a blend.

Now it’s pure vinegar trash. Thank god the aromatic is largely untouched.

I always preferred the aromatic. Thankfully I still have a 14 oz tin of it.

 

[woodsroad]

Glad the system worked out for you there.

I did not understand why there was a push to audit lower income schedule c filers. My business was grossing the median W-2 earnings at the time, so WTF? Why go after the low ROI?

 

[Brad H]

Profiling?

 

[pantsBoots]

I did not understand why there was a push to audit lower income schedule c filers. My business was grossing the median W-2 earnings at the time, so WTF? Why go after the low ROI?

Because wealthier people have a tax attorney, or their CPA has one they regularly work with/recommend.

 

[Sicut_Incensum]

Because wealthier people have a tax attorney, or their CPA has one they regularly work with/recommend.

This, combined with pure bureaucratic pettiness. Give people a taste of that power and authority and they'd audit their own grandmother if it made them feel good.

 

[OverMountain]

My own experience goes back to 1985, when I got audited on my 1983 taxes. In 1983, all of my income was freelance, so 1099, and I had declared my home studio as an expense, which was legal.

I got the auditor from hell, who denied everything and I got hit with a $12,000 bill. That was a lot of money back then and close to everything I had in the bank.

Sometimes the Universe looks out for me and this was one of those times. I met up with a friend and we ended up at Gorky's, an artist's hangout, microbrewery, and server of greasy but cheap "Russian" food. Seating was exclusively long benches where you sat down and confabbed with whoever was there.

I'm sharing my tale of IRS woe with my friend when two attractive young women approached the table and asked if they could join us. We said sure they sat down and asked us what we did, etc. When I asked them what they did for a living their first response was, "Well, it's kind of arcane and not very interesting". When pressed they admitted to being IRS auditors! I couldn't help myself, stated that I'd just been audited and crossed my index fingers at them, forming the sign of the cross.

This got them laughing and before I could get up and leave, one of them stopped me, told me that my auditor was "dirty" and that they were fed up with crooked auditors in the IRS, and that they would tell me what to do, not only to reduce or eliminate any judgement, but to punish the auditor in the process. They also said that if I didn't fight, the IRS would assume that there's more to find and I could subject to further audits. They also said that the IRS hates to go to tax court because the almost always lose.

They told me what IRS publications to get and recommended a book on tax law for artists. The game plan was to send the auditor a letter citing the specific tax rule on something that had been incorrectly disallowed, forcing the auditor to spend time rewriting the judgement. Then do it again, and again, and again, over the next six months, so that the auditor would clock up hours and hours while the total went down. Then, when I was within $50 I was to go the the IRS office and request to see that auditor's supervisor, hand him the initial judgement and the current one, thank him for his time, wish him a good day, and go home

I did just that, and it worked like a charm. I passed the audit. No money owed. And as far as I know, that auditor got transferred to some backwoods shack if not dismissed.

The following year, I did get a notice from the IRS that I owed them 27¢. I sent them a check.

Since them I'm very careful about maintaining records, just in case, and have my accountant handle my taxes. So far, so good.

From what I hear in DC, the IRS is being ruthlessly gutted like a rotten fish right now.

 

[Dave760]

Can I interest you in a “brotherhood”?

Coterie?

 

[Sicut_Incensum]

Coterie?

The Archconfraternity of St. Bruno disavows all these imposter terms.

 

[wyfbane]

Find more than a handful that will admit that they are smokers, tobacco users, or nicotine addicts. Lots of folks like bathroom tissue. That doesn't mean there's a wiping community. Too much focus is given to belonging to something and finding validation from others.

Says the captain of the black frigate, with a crew on here of some size.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but Sutliff is on the vendor list for the upcoming Muletown Pipe Show in Columbia, TN. on March 15 - 16.
Why would they have a representative at the show??

The final Sutliff pipe tobacco release, “Sweated,” is a Muletown exclusive, for sale only there.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The final Sutliff pipe tobacco release, “Sweated,” is a Muletown exclusive, for sale only there.

Well... it's good to see them getting their name out there.

 

[JKOPP4673]

First hand info from my dear friends at Sutliff

STG team arrives onsite Mon to begin their work.

SFDUKE- might want to check your sources I was just at Sutliff about an hour ago and there are no STG folks anywhere and they are sending over one person from STG towards the end of the month to evaluate the equipment ... but nothing is being destroyed, in fact they are still in full swing wrapping up orders in terms of packaging and shipping.... just the production machines are shut down... the only thing gone is the inventory of tobaccopipes.com that's all been moved out...

 

[sfduke]

SFDUKE- might want to check your sources I was just at Sutliff about an hour ago and there are no STG folks anywhere and they are sending over one person from STG towards the end of the month to evaluate the equipment ... but nothing is being destroyed, in fact they are still in full swing wrapping up orders in terms of packaging and shipping.... just the production machines are shut down... the only thing gone is the inventory of tobaccopipes.com that's all been moved out...

Thanks for the update. Glad you were able to visit in-person.

Figured the inventory areas of TP and CoJ are minimal at this point.

Still hoping the manufacturing equipment find new homes and not thrown away.

 

[woodsroad]

Still hoping the manufacturing equipment find new homes and not thrown away.

nothing is being destroyed