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So after Bloomberg pushed through the huge cigarette tax a few years ago — this was before he pushed through the smoking-in-bars ban, that brief window when enjoying the delicious nicotine rush of lung destruction was merely expensive but not yet inconvenient — you thought you'd be clever and start ordering your smokes online. Hell with eight bucks at Duane Reade, you figured, you could save a fortune by getting your Camel Lights shipped in from out of state. Or so you thought. According to the News:

A deal with an Internet cigarette peddler could make 12,500 city smokers cough up $33 million in unpaid sales tax, city officials said yesterday.

A Virginia-based company, eSmokes Inc., agreed to settle a city suit by giving up detailed information on untaxed cigarette sales it made to city residents between 2002 and 2003.

If our math is right, that's $2,640 per person. Lovely.

Holy Smoke! Puffers Face $33M E-Cig Tax Bill [NYDN]