AllCutieWants
08-31-2004, 08:23 AM
Jane Flasch (Niagara Falls, NY) 08/30/04 -- Officials estimate that taxpayers are being cheated out a half-billion dollars every year by suppliers who haul in gas from Canada to avoid US taxes. This week, IRS agents are targeting gas headed for sale on Indian reservations in a sting operation near the border.
In the early morning fog, armed IRS agents camp out at the Queenston/Lewiston bridge near Niagara Falls, NY. Their targets are fuel tankers filled with thousands of gallons of gasoline. The feds say the St. Regis Mohawk tribe imports this gas from Canada to avoid paying federal taxes.
Sovereign nations are exempt from state tax on gasoline. At issue here is the federal excise tax of 18.4 cents a gallon. The US supreme court has upheld a ruling the Indian Nations must pay up--the three largest Mohawk distributors have not.
On this day, they seized 11,000 gallons from the tanker driven by Brian Morris.
The uncollected pennies add up. It's $2,000 for Morris' tanker alone. In the last five years, the Mohawks have shipped 400 million gallons of fuel from Canada avoiding $79 million in taxes.
Gas collected will be auctioned off with the proceeds going back to taxpayers. The IRS promises the sting will continue until taxes are paid. Haulers like Brian Morris are caught in the middle.
In a written statement, the St. Regis tribal council calls the IRS action: "an infringement on our tribal sovereignty. [We are] currently pursuing legal remedies."
The IRS is targeting Mohawk Petroleum sales and its owner Brandon Tarbell. They have filed tax liens against the company for $79 million and are seizing the gas until that lien is paid off.
Many of the Seneca Nation stations refuse to sell the Canadian gas, but enough do. Some officials estimate the US government is losing half a billion dollars a year in unpaid excise tax.
The IRS said this will not cost people who buy their gas on reservations more because the Mohawk distributors haven't been passing on the savings to consumers all along.
:!: So the Indian reservations are still charging the customers Federal tax on the gas, but arent paying... :-k So how is the IRS going to get that $79M back to the tax payers?
In the early morning fog, armed IRS agents camp out at the Queenston/Lewiston bridge near Niagara Falls, NY. Their targets are fuel tankers filled with thousands of gallons of gasoline. The feds say the St. Regis Mohawk tribe imports this gas from Canada to avoid paying federal taxes.
Sovereign nations are exempt from state tax on gasoline. At issue here is the federal excise tax of 18.4 cents a gallon. The US supreme court has upheld a ruling the Indian Nations must pay up--the three largest Mohawk distributors have not.
On this day, they seized 11,000 gallons from the tanker driven by Brian Morris.
The uncollected pennies add up. It's $2,000 for Morris' tanker alone. In the last five years, the Mohawks have shipped 400 million gallons of fuel from Canada avoiding $79 million in taxes.
Gas collected will be auctioned off with the proceeds going back to taxpayers. The IRS promises the sting will continue until taxes are paid. Haulers like Brian Morris are caught in the middle.
In a written statement, the St. Regis tribal council calls the IRS action: "an infringement on our tribal sovereignty. [We are] currently pursuing legal remedies."
The IRS is targeting Mohawk Petroleum sales and its owner Brandon Tarbell. They have filed tax liens against the company for $79 million and are seizing the gas until that lien is paid off.
Many of the Seneca Nation stations refuse to sell the Canadian gas, but enough do. Some officials estimate the US government is losing half a billion dollars a year in unpaid excise tax.
The IRS said this will not cost people who buy their gas on reservations more because the Mohawk distributors haven't been passing on the savings to consumers all along.
:!: So the Indian reservations are still charging the customers Federal tax on the gas, but arent paying... :-k So how is the IRS going to get that $79M back to the tax payers?