BUTT TAXES GO UP IN SMOKE
By DAVID SEIFMAN
October 20, 2007 -- The city hauled in $123 million in cigarette taxes last year - but lost about $40 million to tax-evading smokers, according to a study released yesterday.
Using data culled from the state's 2006 Adult Tobacco Survey, the Independent Budget Office reported that 27 percent of city smokers had bought untaxed cigarettes over the previous 12 months, either online or through illegal street sales.
Statewide, the figure was higher, 34 percent. Of all the boroughs, smokers in Queens were likeliest to duck the combined $3 city-state tax.
