# How can they sell smokes on the Internet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-sell-smokes-on-the-internet/54378>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 13, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-sell-smokes-on-the-internet/54378 "2001-02-13T23:07:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-sell-smokes-on-the-internet/54378/1 "2001-02-13T23:07:28Z")

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There’s a site I’ve bought from (for friends, I don’t smoke) that’s located on an Indian reservation near Buffalo NY. When they arrive the cigarettes all say “For Export Only” on the packs and they do not have a NY State Excise tax seal. They are also cheap. Name brands are only $20 a carton (they’re over $40 in stores here in NY).

Ok, so maybe the reservation can be considered a _ **’sovereign’** _ nation, and sale to them considered _ **’exporting’** _. But how can they possibly resell them to customers in the US without collecting the taxes on them? Is there some loophole or is this just blatently illegal?

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-sell-smokes-on-the-internet/54378/2 "2001-02-14T03:14:23Z")

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Apparently not illegal. Hoever I found on [this site](http://www.albany.net/~gra/newsltrs/2000/febmar.htm#indian):

> [@](#):
>
> New York State Senate Majority Leader, Joseph Bruno is proposing legislation (2000 - my edit) to mandate the enforcement of the collection of sales and excise taxes on motor fuel and cigarettes to non-Indians from reservation stores and service stations. The proposal is part of the Senate Budget resolution. Several Senators and Assemblymen are calling for the enforcement of the “Attea” decision in which the US Supreme Court upheld New York’s right to collect taxes on sales to non-native American for sale made on Indian Reservations.

I also note that Arizona requires sales tax to anything sold by native Americans on reservations to non-native Americans. To this foreigner, it seems to be a state-by-state situation.