Senate Investigations Committee to Hold Hearing on the Non-Collection of Taxes for Cigarettes Sold on Indian Reservations

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Senate Standing Committee on Investigations and Government Operations will be holding a hearing on the State's inability to collect taxes on cigarettes sold to Non-Native Americans on Indian reservations, Committee Chairman Senator Craig M. Johnson announced.

Years after the courts affirmed a state's right to collect taxes generated by the sale of cigarettes by Native Americans to non-Native Americans at licensed "smokeshops" and over the Internet, the state Department of Taxation and Finance has been stymied in its tax collection efforts. This non-collection issue persists despite a law passed last year that required these taxes to be collected.

Witnesses confirmed to appear include: Governor's Counsel Peter Kiernan, William Comiskey, Deputy Commissioner of the State Department of Taxation and Finance, representatives from the Seneca,  St. Regis Mohawk, Onondaga and Poospatuck nations, as well as representatives from New York City, local governments and the tobacco and convenience store industries, among others.

Date & Time: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2009

Location: Borough of Manhattan Community College, Richard Harris Terrace, 199 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007

 

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