HUMMMMMMMMM

From the Green Bay Press , Link

Posted January 5, 2008
Tribes won't shelter smokers from tax bite
Oneidas, others charge excise levy that jumped Jan. 1
My first question is what percentage of tribal members smoke some form of legal tobacco?
By Malavika Jagannathan mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com
Buying cigarettes or other tobacco products on Native American
reservations doesn't save users from paying the $1 hike in taxes
that went into effect on New Year's Day.

Wisconsin now has the nation's 12th highest cigarette excise taxes in the country, which means smokers are paying more for cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco no matter where they buy them. Twelfth highest in the country, it feels like the 1st or 2nd highest to me!

Tribes in Wisconsin — including the Oneida Tribe of Indians — charge the state excise taxes on cigarettes, which rose $1 to $1.77 on Jan. 1 as part of the state's biennial budget signed into law late October. O K, so they charge the new increase tax on tobacco!

But tribes have agreements with the state to collect refunds on the excise taxes paid by customers: 100 percent on cigarettes sold to tribal members and 70 percent on sales to non-tribal customers. For other tobacco products, it's a 100 percent refund on sales to tribal members and 50 percent to non-tribal clients, according to a memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau on the cigarette tax hike.
OK, I see the word "REFUND",
from dictionary.com
verb (used with object) Like Taxing Smokes
1.to give back or restore (esp. money); repay.
Who's giving back here?
2.to make repayment to; reimburse. –verb (used without object)
Who's repaying who?
3.to make repayment. –noun
The state of Wisconsin repaying the tribe?
4.an act or instance of refunding.
I'm getting lost on this, is the state collecting any money?
5. an amount refunded.
Oh, it's Diamond Jim and I think we lost something again!
The refund provisions essentially "encourage Native American retailers to sell only taxed products" and keeps prices on reservations equivalent to those in off-reservation areas.
Wait one minute, They charge same taxes but can give refunds. I'm sorry , this does not compute! So again I ask, if they're charging the same prices and someone is getting a refund then is the state of Wisconsin getting all the TAX REVENUE?????????????
Wait, you ( I mean me as in Berry Laker, not you the reader) idiot, read on!
As of 2004, eight out of the 34 states with federally recognized tribes have state-tribal tobacco sales tax collection agreements, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.
O K that sounds nice.
Between July 2001 and July 2006, Wisconsin tribes collected more than $83 million in state excise taxes and were reimbursed for about $59.6 million — or 72 percent — of those taxes, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Lets see, 83 million - 59.6 million = 23.4 million dollars to the state of Wisconsin.

So they are charging the taxes but the state is giving
them 72 % of all money collected.
The state gave back 59.6 MILLION DOLLARS???????????????????

So the poor Native Americans have to use there own money to pay for the taxes on tobacco and the tribe gets the money back from the state! What do they do with the refund? Does each tribal member get a check for the amount of money they spend on tobacco?

Shouldn't tribal members not pay the tax. If they could save a $1.77 per pack, that's more money in their pocket for education, child care ,food, medicine, etc..
The Oneida Tribe of Indians does not plan to change its policy and will continue charging the state taxes, tribal spokeswoman Bobbi Webster said.
Will someone from the Onieda Nation ask Bobbi Webster for a check every year. Or will they ask where that refund is going? or do they have a system set up that tribal members skip the tax all together! Someone is getting this money.

Ah, you got to love this.

And yes I do go to casino's and partake in some minor gambling machines AKA (sorry only) quarter slots, sometimes dollar slots!

And yes, my protest agaist the state of Wisconsin was to quit smoking.
AAAAARRRR^%$%&*, I'm on DAY 5 , Thank you very much for asking.