In Massachusetts, flavored cigarettes and E-cigarettes(HNB and Vaping) were banned across the state on October 27, 2019, but smugglers used underground smuggling networks to bring the products into the state, the Eagle Tribune reported. In 2022, the state lost millions of dollars in tax revenue due to smuggling of vaping products.

Cross-border smuggling remains’ major challenge for tobacco enforcement ‘

According to a new report from the Multi-Agency Illegal Tobacco Task Force, a large number of banned and untaxed e-cigarette products linked to cross-border smuggling were seized last year. E-cigarettes provided Massachusetts with about $16.3 million in tax revenue last year. As more smokers kick the habit, the state’s tobacco tax collection has steadily declined from $610 million in 2016.

In 2022, they seized more than 140,000 untaxed vape products linked to cross-border smuggling, according to the report.

Buyers who want to avoid paying taxes

In 2019, Massachusetts’s then-governor Charlie Baker signed a law banning flavored tobacco products and imposing a new 75 percent excise tax on the wholesale price of E-cigarettes(heated herbal heatsticks supplier). But the state’s high tobacco taxes have led smugglers to smuggle products from low-tax states and sell them to buyers who want to evade Massachusetts’s tobacco excise tax.

Under the law, anyone caught bringing untaxed E-cigarettes(heat not burn heatsticks) or smoking products into the state can be fined $5,000 for a first offense and up to $25,000 for repeated violators. The rules also allow police to seize vaping products that have not been taxed, as well as vehicles, ships and aircraft that have been smuggled into use.

Currently, Massachusetts has the second-highest cigarette tax in the country, after New York. High tobacco taxes have driven many smokers to New Hampshire. New Hampshire taxes cigarettes at $1.78 per pack, while Massachusetts charges $3.51. That price does not include the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax.