Mr. Ben Dover's tobacco shop

[peckinpahhombre]

Fair enough Derrick. I am by no means a fan of taxation, but lets look at the facts. The US national debt is now over $17 trillion - that's right, that's $17,000 billion. The war in Iraq alone ran up a bill of $6 trillion. And this doesn't even include state and municipal debts, which are also astronomically high, particularly in places like California. Just servicing the interest on this debt requires a massive amount of public revenue, let alone paying down the principal.
This has to be paid for in some way. I am afraid to say that high taxes are here to stay and will necessarily get higher. The folks who don't think so have their head in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich. Even if government spending (excluding interest on the national debt, which must be paid) was cut to the bare bones, higher taxes would still be a certainty. People don't like the idea of higher income taxes because it directly impacts them - they much prefer sin taxes because they view it as voluntary. That's why higher sin taxes are, in my view, inevitable; these types of taxes are low-hanging fruit for politicians because they will upset the least number of people.
Clearly allowing people to avoid sales taxes through internet sales is unsustainable in the long run and is, frankly, bad policy. It is causing a hollowing out of the retail sector because it gives out-of-state internet sales operations a massive competitive advantage over local B&Ms (and not just in the area of tobacco, either) and ultimately results in lower state revenues which must be made up for through alternate modes of taxation. If I owned a B&M operation I would be outraged that I have to charge high rates of tax that out-of-state operators do not have to charge. It is very tough to survive in that type of environment.

 

[adam12]

Don't knock a hole-in-the-wall B&M that specializes in cigars and other assorted crap (roachclips, pen sets, etc)....... I once found the motherlode of vintage 1998-2002 McClelland in one of those places.... which shall remain nameless... ::

 

[yazamitaz]

Daimyo,
While the price of everyday stuff is probably out of touch at your B&M you MAY be able to see if they can get a few bags of Penzance, Stonehaven, or any other hard to find baccy or something that YOU like but can't get elsewhere but NEED to have it. He could just call you when it arrives so he isn't taking up shelf space and you will get stuff that you might not be able to get otherwise. It could be a win-win.
Just my .02

 

[daimyo]

Yaz that is a brilliant suggestion and could turn a negative into a positive for both myself and the store. Who knows if they can do it but it's certainly worth a try. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[derrickyoung]

I hear you Peck,really I do. And I do not think for a second that sin taxes should be eliminated. I just think that when the politicians keep hitting the same low hanging fruit over and over again people adapt and then there is a point of diminishing return. I think your in Canada Peck so you might remember back in the 90's when cigarette prices hit the point they are now there was a whole underground tobacco economy from the first nation reserves. I did not know a single person who bought tobacco from the stores. Everyone knew someone delivering cartons for 15.00 to your door. They say billions in tax revenue was lost. We are back at that point again, yes the government tightened things up last time before raising prices again. But the new loop hole is being circumvented with the first nations investing millions now into there own manufacturing and processing equipment. They say the quality of the product has gotten 100 times better in the past 3-4 years.