So my players are smuggling things... like a lot of other pcs I guess. How do you handle the empires evil tax collectors?

What are the chances of getting caught when travelling the galaxy? And what happens when the pcs are caught in a spaceship filled with illegal merchandise?

What happens? A new adventure happens abroad Imperial starship where captain says: we have captured you and can send you to Kessel for 30 years, but we just need a bunch of idiots ...I mean heroes! who will "volunteer" for a suicide mission.

I'd say that every time they roll a Despair and there is a good place, you can insert some Imp evil tax collectors showing. Of course if you need to harass players or move them toward some direction in the story.

Wow, there's like, whole sourcebooks on that....

Umm lets see:

How do you handle the empires evil tax collectors?

Depends... Most "civilized" planets have a customs office that checks ship in orbit or shortly after landing. How these guys operates depends on, well, everything. A sleepy backwater might just be a quick walkthrough, a major fortressworld might have a dedicated scanning droid, a very busy port in "civilized" space might do orbital scans as you fly in for landing and then issue random inspections on the ground to follow up. It's all variable.

What are the chances of getting caught when travelling the galaxy?

Again, variable. Tatooine isn't gonna look too hard especially if you pay for "expedited processing," Naboo will probably go over you with a fine tooth comb and spice sniffing rancor.

It also depends on your players. Getting through customs isn't about going really fast, or avoiding detection (though that can be a method), but also about not looking suspicious so the inspector doesn't want to bother looking at your load too closely.

And what happens when the pcs are caught in a spaceship filled with illegal merchandise?

Depends what they do after that. "Shawshank Redemption: the roleplaying game" is an option, but so is running, fighting and so on. Also I should hope they don't actually fill their ship with illegal merch. I mean without some legal merch as cover you're just asking to visit the Empires smelliest prisons....

What happens? A new adventure happens abroad Imperial starship where captain says: we have captured you and can send you to Kessel for 30 years, but we just need a bunch of idiots ...I mean heroes! who will "volunteer" for a suicide mission.

I'd say that every time they roll a Despair and there is a good place, you can insert some Imp evil tax collectors showing. Of course if you need to harass players or move them toward some direction in the story.

I agree with this. Isn't every great cinematic adventure about when things have gone wrong and not right?

What Ghostofman said is pretty spot on. Here's a few other tidbits (and I'll avoid reiterating what Ghostofman already said; not point in beating a dead horse) that I may be right or wrong about, but may be very useful if you decide to incorporate them:

How do you handle the empires evil tax collectors?

First, taxes are variable. You can get taxed for taking cargo offworld, but not always. You also get taxed for using patrolled hyperlanes (usually a percentage of your cargo); I normally handle this with some handwaving saying that the transponder was scanned by a patrol or waystation confirming that they were indeed using that hyperlane and bill them accordingly (about 5-10% of their cargo's value) when they land (you just don't mess with BoSS. . .). You then get taxed again when you bring it to the planet in question, often another percentage of the sale value.

Keep in mind that this is all the LEGAL stuff that's hauled, and not the illegal items hidden away.

Basically, I charge the players when they pay their docking fees on a "civilized" world if it is known they were hauling cargo or if they declare it. Since they normally have to announce their destination when they leave a "civilized" port (just in case they get lost in space somewhere), there's always that chance that someone will be waiting when they arrive.

Now, that's not to say that once they arrive they are paying the whole tax for their cargo. Hiding goods is one way around it (smuggling compartments are a prime example, but hiding certain types of cargo near the engines to baffle scanners is another), but it's risky if anyone comes in looking closely. Another thing is they can pay a nice bribe to the official in question (risky, but possible) that is much lower than the taxes.

All in all, it really does depend on the world and how the party handles it. By not declaring that goods are being sold, they can avoid the tax, but they'll have to be very careful to not get caught.

What are the chances of getting caught when travelling the galaxy?

This all depends on how they are handling things. If they have a whole cargo hold filled with barrels and barrels of bootleg bacta, there will be problems if they get boarded or searched when they land. Alternatively, if they keep things hidden among legal goods or hidden elsewhere on the ship (see above), they won't get caught.

There is also the issue of if they are bringing attention to themselves. Are they blasting out of a spaceport and running? More than likely, a patrol will be looking for them. Do they panic as soon as they see an Imperial Customs Ship when they are plotting their next jump to lightspeed? That'll raise some red flags with the Imps.

In reality, the chances are both on the GM (scheduled patrols, how much of a jerk is the captain, etc) and on the players (attention drawn, actions taken, etc).

And don't forget: you can be found by pirates just as easily as an Imperial Customs ship in certain parts of the galaxy. A couple of the Rogue Squadron books did some pirating things (waited at a key location where ships were known to recalculate the next jump), and there's a pirate scene or two placed in the second or third book of the Han Solo Trilogy (one group used an asteroid to knock a luxury liner out of hyperspace); just a few ideas for you to consider if you really want to see what the "chances" are of getting caught en route. . .

And what happens when the pcs are caught in a spaceship filled with illegal merchandise?

As Ghostofman said, it would be stupid to have an entire hold filled with illegal goods. In any case, "It Depends" is the correct answer.

If the illegal merchandise is big enough to be arrested for (like smuggling arms for the Rebellion), then you have a fight on your hands. If it's "small," like having a single dose of certain spices or foodstuffs that are illegal to transport without the right permits, you can be looking as little as a bribe or a fine (but it'll be on your record).

If you want a lot of the Nitty Gritty, take a look at the book Platt's Smuggler's Guide. It may be a bit of a pain to get a hold of, but it is well worth it if your party likes to smuggle things.

If you want a lot of the Nitty Gritty, take a look at the book Platt's Smuggler's Guide. It may be a bit of a pain to get a hold of, but it is well worth it if your party likes to smuggle things.

Also Platt's Starports Guide which gives some examples how the custom officers works depending on the type of a starport.

If you want a lot of the Nitty Gritty, take a look at the book Platt's Smuggler's Guide. It may be a bit of a pain to get a hold of, but it is well worth it if your party likes to smuggle things.

Also Platt's Starports Guide which gives some examples how the custom officers works depending on the type of a starport.

That too, but it really depends on how much information you want to utilize. I found the Smuggler's Guide to be a bit better for players wanting to know what they have in store, while the Starports Guide was just nice to have a few key places to go and use them as templates from the GM perspective.