Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

On Monday, the New York State Legislature passed an emergency extension bill that will add an extra $1.60 in tax to every pack of cigarettes sold in the state. The bill also called for the state to begin enforcing an earlier law that was never enforced but which requires stores on Indian reservations to charge tax on tobacco products sold to non-Native customers. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, along with other New York State tribes, believes tribes have the sovereign right to sell any goods tax free, regardless to whom they are selling.

The new bill is a result of budget issues in the state. The tax hike is set to go into effect on July 1, 2010.

Though vocal in the past in their fight against state taxation, the SRMT did not respond to questions regarding what plan of action they have to continue fighting the tobacco taxation.

In the past they’ve stated that it should not be the storeowners’ responsibility to implement a “voucher” system (which the state has proposed) for their Native customers in order to sell them tax-free tobacco. Rather, Council said the non-Native customer should be responsible for reporting their tax-free Indian reservation purchases should the state require them to do so.

SRMT Director Public Information David Staddon said Council hasn’t formulated a unified response to news of Monday’s bill.