Harder's Express, Inc. v. State Tax Commission

OPINION OF THE COURT

George L. Cobb, J.

In this CPLR article 78 proceeding, the petitioner, a common carrier of goods, challenges the respondent’s determina*450tion that it must pay the tax imposed by section 471 of the Tax Law upon certain cigarettes which were stolen, while such were in its possession.

On December 14, 1973, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company at Albany, New York, delivered a quantity of untaxed cigarettes to petitioner for delivery to a consignee in Poughkeepsie, New York, but before such delivery occurred they were stolen. Thereafter, respondent demanded that petitioner pay the tax…