Blumenthal
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - In response to Foxwoods consumers discovering a 7 percent tax on receipts, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is urging the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to clearly identify its 1 percent tribal tax separately from the state tax on all customer receipts at the resort.
In a letter to Richard Sebastian, vice-chairman and acting chair of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal nation, Blumenthal asked Foxwoods to revise its receipts and signage, saying that casino patrons deserve to know the entire source and amounts of any taxes imposed.
The practice is already implemented at the hotels, where the tribal occupancy tax on rooms is clearly identified as a tribal levy on consumer bills.
"The ongoing failure to clearly identify the source of the tax has already caused confusion to the public and will continue to mislead consumers, who believe that the entire amount collected is a state tax, not a tribal surcharge," Blumenthal said.
"Equally serious, on some sales at Foxwoods where the state imposes no sales tax, the tribe is charging a 7 percent tribal sales tax, without identifying it as such. This practice easily and falsely leads patrons to assume that most or all of the tax goes to the state."
The Democrat added that Foxwoods patrons are entitled to a fair and accurate description of any surcharge imposed on their purchases, including whether it is assessed by the tribe or the state.