Create Cigarette Tax Enforcement Fund

Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 472 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 629 of the laws of 1996, and as further amended by section 104 of part A of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:

1. The commissioner shall prescribe, prepare and furnish stamps of such denominations and quantities as may be necessary for the payment of the tax on cigarettes imposed by this article, plus the payment by the agent of a concurrent expense allowance for the cigarette tax enforcement fund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-ee of the state finance law of four cents per stamp which shall be deposited pursuant to subdivision (c) of section four hundred eighty-two of this article, and may from time to time and as often as he deems advisable provide for the issuance and exclusive use of stamps of a new design and forbid the use of stamps of any other design, in the manner and with the effect provided in section two hundred seventy-four of this chapter. The commissioner shall make provisions for the sale of such stamps at such places and at such times as he may deem necessary and may license agents for such purpose. The commissioner may license dealers in cigarettes, who maintain separate warehousing facilities for the purpose of receiving and distributing cigarettes and conducting their business, who have received commitments from at least two cigarette manufacturers whose

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD08857-03-8

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aggregate market share is at least forty percent of the New York state cigarette market, and importers, exporters and manufacturers of cigarettes, and other persons within or without the state as agents to buy or affix stamps to be used in paying the tax herein imposed, but an agent shall at all times have the right to appoint the person in his employ who is to affix the stamps to any cigarettes under the agent's control. The fee for filing such application for an agent's license shall be one thousand five hundred dollars, unless such fee has been paid during the preceding twelve months, in which case, the fee for a new license shall be one thousand dollars. All of the provisions of section four hundred eighty of this article relating to wholesale dealers' licenses, including the procedure for suspension, revocation, refusal to license and for hearings, except for paragraphs (c) and (g) of subdivision one of such section, shall be applicable to agents' licenses applied for or granted pursuant to this section, as if such provisions had been set forth in full in this subdivision and had expressly referred to the applicant for, or the holder of, an agent's license. Whenever the commissioner shall sell and deliver to any such agent any such stamps, such agent shall be entitled to receive as compensation for his services and expenses as such agent in selling or affixing such stamps, and to retain out of the moneys to be paid by him for such stamps, a commission on the par value thereof. The commissioner is hereby authorized to prescribe a schedule of commissions, not exceeding five per centum, allowable to such agent for buying and affixing such stamps. Such schedule shall be uniform with respect to the different types of stamps used, and may be on a graduated scale with respect to the number of stamps purchased. The commissioner may, in his discretion, permit an agent to pay for such stamps within thirty days after the date of purchase and may require any such agent to file with the department [of taxation and finance] a bond issued by a surety company approved by the superintendent of financial services as to solvency and responsibility and authorized to transact business in the state or other security acceptable to the commissioner, in such amount as the commissioner may fix, to secure the payment of any sums due from such agent pursuant to this article. If securities are deposited as security under this subdivision, such securities shall be kept in the custody of the commissioner and may be sold by the commissioner if it becomes necessary so to do in order to recover any sums due from such agent pursuant to this article, but no such sale shall be had until after such agent shall have had opportunity to litigate the validity of any tax if it elects so to do. Upon any such sale, the surplus, if any, above the sums due under this article shall be returned to such agent.

§ 2. Section 482 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivision (c) to read as follows:

(c) From the amounts received pursuant to subdivision one of section four hundred seventy-two of this article, the commissioner shall deposit in the cigarette tax enforcement fund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-ee of the state finance law the concurrent expense allowance for the cigarette tax enforcement fund of four cents per stamp.

§ 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-ee to read as follows:

§ 99-ee. Cigarette tax enforcement fund. 1. There is hereby created in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance an account of the miscellaneous special revenue fund to be known as the "cigarette tax enforcement fund".

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2. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the state comptroller is hereby authorized and directed to receive for deposit to the credit of the cigarette tax enforcement fund monies received from the commissioner of taxation and finance from the concurrent expense allowance paid pursuant to subdivision one of section four hundred seventy-two of the tax law, monies received from the commissioner of taxation and finance from the sale of forfeited cigarettes authorized pursuant to section eighteen hundred forty-six of the tax law, and other monies appropriated, credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source.

3. The proceeds of the cigarette tax enforcement fund shall be used solely to enforce (i) the collection of the cigarette tax imposed by article twenty of the tax law or (ii) the cigarette marketing standards act, as established by article twenty-A of the tax law.

4. Monies in the cigarette tax enforcement fund shall be kept separate and apart and shall not be commingled with any other moneys in the custody of the comptroller and shall only be expended as provided herein.

5. Monies of the fund shall be available to the commissioner of taxation and finance for purposes of carrying out the provisions of subdivision (j) of section eighteen hundred fourteen of the tax law and shall be paid out of the fund on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner of taxation and finance.

6. In the month immediately following the month in which the balance of the fund exceeds six million five hundred thousand dollars, the comptroller shall, upon receipt of a certificate of allocation issued by the director of the division of the budget, transfer six million dollars to the division of state police to support the division's cigarette tax, as imposed by article twenty of the tax law, and the cigarette marketing standards act, as established by article twenty-A of the tax law, enforcement activities. These funds may be apportioned to either the patrol activities or criminal investigation activities programs of the division of state police, may be transferred or suballocated to any other state agency or public authority for their costs associated with the enforcement of the cigarette tax or the cigarette marketing standards act, and may be used to contract with local enforcement agencies for cigarette tax and/or cigarette marketing standards act enforcement activities.

§ 4. Subdivisions (a), (b) and (c) of section 1846 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 556 of the laws of 2011, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Whenever a police officer designated in section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law or a peace officer designated in subdivision four of section 2.10 of such law, acting pursuant to his or her special duties, shall discover any cigarettes subject to tax provided by article twenty of this chapter or by chapter thirteen of title eleven of the administrative code of the city of New York, and upon which the tax has not been paid or the stamps not affixed as required by such article or such chapter thirteen, they are hereby authorized and empowered forthwith to seize and take possession of such cigarettes, together with any vending machine or receptacle in which they are held for sale. Such cigarettes, vending machine or receptacle seized by a police officer or such peace officer shall be turned over to the commissioner. Such seized cigarettes, vending machine or receptacle, not including money contained in such vending machine or receptacle, shall be forfeited to the state. The

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commissioner may, within a reasonable time thereafter, upon publication of a notice to such effect for at least five successive days, before the day of sale, in a newspaper published or circulated in the county where the seizure was made, sell such forfeited vending machines or receptacles at public sale and pay the proceeds into the state treasury to the credit of the general fund. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the commissioner may enter into an agreement with any city of this state which is authorized to impose a tax similar to that imposed by article twenty of this chapter to provide for the disposition between the state and any such city of the proceeds from any such sale. All cigarettes forfeited to the state [shall be destroyed or used for law enforcement purposes], except [that] cigarettes that violate, or are suspected of violating, federal trademark laws or import laws shall [not be used for law enforcement purposes. If the commissioner determines the cigarettes may not be used for law enforcement purposes], upon publication in the state registry, be available for inspection by the manufacturer who shall determine whether such cigarettes are of saleable quality and such cigarettes shall be offered for sale to such manufacturers. Any cigarettes that are either not inspected by the manufacturer within five days of the publication in the state registry or are not purchased by the manufacturer after being determined to be of saleable quality shall, upon publication in the state registry, be offered for sale to agents, as such term is defined in subdivision eleven of section four hundred seventy of this chapter, to a price equaling two dollars and twenty cents per pack of twenty cigarettes. Any such cigarettes that are either not sold within a reasonable period of time after being offered for sale to agents or deemed unsaleable by the manufacturer shall, upon publication in the state registry, be destroyed or used for law enforcement purposes. If the commissioner determines the cigarettes may not be offered for sale to the manufacturers or agents, or used for law enforcement purposes because such cigarettes violate, or are suspected of violating, federal trademark laws or import laws, the commissioner must, within a reasonable time after the forfeiture of such cigarettes, upon publication in the state registry, destroy such forfeited cigarettes. The commissioner may, prior to any destruction of cigarettes, permit the true holder of the trademark rights in the cigarettes to inspect such forfeited cigarettes in order to assist in any investigation regarding such cigarettes. The revenue from all sales of cigarettes made pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the cigarette tax enforcement fund, as established in section ninety-nine-ee of the state finance law.

(b) [In the alternative] Prior to making forfeited cigarettes available for inspection or purchase by the manufacturer, offering such cigarettes for sale to agents, or using such cigarettes for law enforcement purposes in accordance with subdivision (a) of this section, the tax commission, on reasonable notice by mail or otherwise, may permit the person from whom said cigarettes were seized to redeem the said cigarettes, and any vending machine or receptacle seized therewith, by the payment of the tax due, plus a penalty of fifty per centum thereof, plus interest on the amount of tax due for each month or fraction thereof after such tax became due (determined without regard to any extension of time for filing or paying) at the rate applicable under subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section four hundred eighty-one of this chapter and the costs incurred in such proceeding, which total payment shall not be less than five dollars; provided, however, that such seizure and sale or redemption shall not be deemed to relieve

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any person from fine or imprisonment provided for in this article for violation of any provision of article twenty of this chapter.

(c) [In the alternative] After making forfeited cigarettes available for inspection or purchase by the manufacturer and offering such cigarettes for sale to agents in accordance with subdivision (a) of this section, the tax commission may dispose of any cigarettes seized pursuant to this section, except those that violate, or are suspected of violating, federal trademark laws or import laws, by transferring them to the department of corrections and community supervision for sale to or use by inmates in such institutions.