Store Selling Cigarettes Using Tax Loophole

An Upstate store owner said smokers can get cigarettes without paying state and federal taxes because of a tax loophole.
M.J. Farah, owner of Jake's One Stop in Pelzer, is offering customers the chance to roll their own cigarettes.
"The customers are taking advantage of a tax cut. They don't have to pay the taxes on the tobacco if they are making it on their own," said Farah. "I have people who drive all the way up here 45 minutes just to come get their tobacco."
Farah recently got three new machines that stuff the cigarettes for customers. He was already selling roll-your-own supplies, but the new machines are less time-consuming and still save smokers money.
"We probably do 10 times the business with it than we did a year and a half ago," said Farah. "People are counting change to come in and buy cigarettes, so this is a great way for them to come in and save money."
Farah said the brand of cigarettes he sells the most is Marlboro. A carton goes for $43.39, he said.
Smokers who buy their own tobacco, tubes and use the machine in the store will pay $15 a carton or $1.50 a pack, Farah said. Customers who buy the same supplies and stuff their own cigarettes at home will save even more. Farah said a carton with their best-selling tobacco will cost $7.03.
After 30 years of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, Tracey Hawkins said she's using the machines to save money.
"Hopefully we're going to save right at a dollar a pack, I hope," said Hawkins. "It tastes kind of like what we were smoking, and if it saves us money, why not?"