File this one under freedoms on the march. Starting today, Revenue agents from the State of Tennessee will be staking out stores in bordering states in order to arrest Tennesseans who try to save a few dollars by crossing the border to buy cigarettes.
Anyone caught bringing more than two cartons into the state will be arrested and may have their car seized. If this regressive state had an income tax, it wouldn't have to support itself by stealing property from ordinary citizens.
The State of Tennessee has been seizing cars and bank accounts of sick and elderly Tennesseans caught using medical marijuana for years now.
As the saying goes, first they came for sick and elderly medical marijuana patients, then . . .
Knoxville News Sentinel:
Starting today, state Department of Revenue agents will begin stopping Tennessee motorists spotted buying large quantities of cigarettes in border states, then charging them with a crime and, in some cases, seizing their cars.
Under state law, bringing more than two cartons of cigarettes into the state without paying Tennessee taxes is a “Class B” misdemeanor, carrying punishment of up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine. Bringing 25 or more cartons is a “Class E” felony, with minimum penalty of one year in prison and a maximum of six years plus a fine of up to $3,000.
In addition, the specific state statute dealing with untaxed cigarettes provides that vehicles used to transport more than two cartons “are considered contraband and are subject to seizure,” says a Department of Revenue statement.
Farr said that agents have been instructed to seize any vehicle carrying more than 25 cartons of cigarettes without Tennessee tax stamps. In cases where three to 24 cartons are involved, he said vehicle seizure is “at the officer’s discretion.”
Discretion? Give me an effing break! Revenue agents in this state would be better termed ‘thugs.’ Dressed in apparent flak jackets and jack boots, the cretins have been known to intimidate, threaten, bully, and scare the hell out of elderly cancer survivors before hauling away cars, bank accounts and anything else that strikes their thuggish fancy.
[Disclosure: a few years ago, a family member -- elderly cancer survivor – had his car and bank accounts seized by TN Revenue
Tennessee, sounds like an effing police state to me.
Tennessee Says No to Free Trade. With Mississippi.
Domestic Surveillance
Revenuers going after out-of-state cigarette buyers
What Happened To The Free Market?
Become a felon in Tennessee -- cheap!
But a Carload of Hookahs is No Problem
May I See Your Cigarette Papers, Please?
Cigarette surveillance program begins today Knoxville News Sentinel
Tennessee Cigarette Gestapo
via memeorandum
Freedom on the March Tennessee News Revenue Agents Cigarettes Politics Police State Dept. of Revenue Border States Taxes
