The hearing was the latest step in a longrunning dispute between New York state — which says it has a right to collect tax on sales to non-Indians — and the state’s Indian tribes, who say they are sovereign and exempt from the state’s tax rules.
Seneca President Barry Snyder Sr. praised Tuesday’s state Supreme Court ruling as an endorsement of his nation’s point of view. The western New York tribe, as the biggest seller of discount cigarettes online story, has been the most vocal in opposition to efforts to tax cigarettes online sales.
“Judge (Rose) Sconiers’ decisions continue to support our long-held belief in our treaty rights that make the nation immune from state taxes,” Snyder said in a statement.
Assistant Attorney General Darren Longo said the state likely would appeal the preliminary injunction.
“We’ve argued in the past that the (law) does allow for taxation on purchases of cigarettes on reservations by non-registered members of the reservation and that we can’t effect that without having the tax imposed at some level in the chain of custody,” he said. “The judge’s order is effectively going to prevent any action at this point by the state to put the tax in place at any part of the chain of custody.”