This is going to continue to be an issue because he reports all out of state purchases to the state of OH. He has his disclaimer CYA page buried in his site somewhere, but I doubt he's going to make it prominent enough to scare his business away. As far as NHC is concerned, he's just following the letter of the law and leaves it to the consumer to self-disclose.
Did he come out and tell you that or did you find it on the site? Also, I wonder if he reports it to each state individually. Seems like a major PITA on his part.
He just submits it to his state and they take it from there
IMHO any taxes being collected or disclosed on out-of-state purchases should be fully disclosed during the checkout process, including any Use or Excise Taxes that may be due or disclosed. The same way as the shipping costs are outlined. Asking a customer to simply check a box stating they have read the Shipping Terms to me is not full disclosure, especially when customers are being hit MONTHS after the initial purchase with exuberant penalties and interest. For the site to state "Tobacco Excise Tax varies by State and may be assessed by individual States as reported." is not enough considering the operative word is "MAY" while the vendor IS fully disclosing out-of-state sales.
But technically everything you order online you are supposed to claim and pay taxes for it is not the sellers job to enforce or inform. They could and it would be nice if they did but if you order anything online you should know you are supposed to be required to pay your state taxes on it. A companyreporting their sales if they are required to is not hinky. I don't normally order cigars online but with all my online purchases I love not paying taxes, I do however know that uncle Sam can come knocking for tax dollars on those items.
Some items are taxable, while others are not. All depends on where you live. Am not saying that a company reporting their sales are hinkey. What I am saying is hinkey is stating that it "may" be assessed while the transaction details are being fully disclosed without customer's knowledge, and not better/clearly disclosing that fact during the checkout process where the applicable taxes and shipping are clearly outlined. IMHO tax reporting policies have nothing to due with shipping terms or privacy policies and therefore should be clearly identified.
There are a few states that have done this - the most aggresive in recent memory being Florida. Each retailer handles it differently. We worked with a tax attourney on our policies which are all influenced by our refusal to share our customer purchases with any state. If a state does not handle our policy, sadly we will not sell there.
So is this a second purchase they're hitting you on?
Patience, patience. They will.
