Taxable Talk

No, not the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees. Instead, it’s the on-again, off-again battle between the State of New York and the Indian tribes of New York state on collecting cigarette taxes.

The Indian tribes sell cigarettes, and they don’t want to collect New York taxes on cigarettes. They view themselves as sovereign nations, and New York law doesn’t count.

On the other hand, the State of New York believes that it doesn’t matter: If you’re located within the boundaries of New York state (and these tribes are, at least geographically), then cigarette taxes must be collected.

This is a big money maker for the tribes, so this is a battle that will likely drag on and on and on. Today’s salvo had a judge putting a halt to the collection of taxes for at least the next two weeks. It’s as if the Indians scored a run in the top of the 13th inning. We’ll soon see if the Yankees can either tie the score or go ahead.