Daily bulletin [2009 : March 26, v.2009 : no.34]

Daily Bulletin ACTIONS BY THE NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY School of Government The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Legislative Reporting Service, Box 7294 State Legislative Building, Raleigh, NC 27601 Phone 919.733.2484 ~ Fax 919.715.3464 ~ www.dbulletin.org House Legislative Day 34 Vol. 2009, No. 34 Senate Legislative Day 34 Thursday, March 26, 2009 SUMMARIES OF BILLS FILED Wednesday, March 25, 2009 SENATE BILLS S 895. RESTORE CIGARETTE TAX STAMPS. Filed 3/25/09. TO PROVIDE FOR PAYMENT OF CIGARETTE TAXES BY STAMP AND TO LIMIT THE RECEIPT AND SALE OF NON-TAX-PAID CIGARETTES. Current law (GS 105-1 13.5) provides that there is a tax rate of one and three-fourths cents per cigarette levied on the sale or possession for sale of cigarettes in North Carolina by a distributor. This proposed act makes changes that will allow the payment of cigarette taxes by stamp. Amends GS 105-1 13.4 to add definitions for: (1) affiliated sales entity— an entity that sells cigarettes or other tobacco products that it acquired from a manufacturer that is controlled by the manufacturer, controls the manufacturer, or both are commonly controlled by another entity; (2) duty free transaction— a sale or distribution of cigarettes that is exempt from federal excise tax; (3) importer— a person who directly or indirectly imports a finished cigarette into the U.S. to be sold or distributed in this state; (4) non-tax-paid cigarettes— a package of cigarettes that does not have the required stamp; (5) stamp— markings that are required to be placed on a package of cigarettes as evidence that the tax under GS 105-1 13.5 has been paid or markings to indicate that the cigarettes are exempt from state tax; and (6) U. S. government transaction— a sale or distribution of cigarettes to an agency or instrumentality of the United States, including the armed forces exchange and commissary services. Modifies the definitions for: (1) distributor to include persons who import cigarettes or cause them to be imported; (2) manufacturer to include an affiliated sales entity for purposes of this section and GS 105-113.5,105-1 13.10, 105-113.18, 105-1 13. 20A, 105-113.27, and 105-113.28, and to include a person who fabricates, processes, or labels tobacco products. Amends GS 105-113.18(1) to provide that every distributor required to affix stamps per this proposed legislation is to file a report. Prescribes the content of that report. Enacts new GS 105-1 1 3.19A to direct that the Secretary on a form prescribed by the Secretary of Revenue (Secretary) make arrangements for the manufacture of the required cigarette stamps and provide guidelines regarding the format and distribution of the stamps. Directs that the cigarette tax levied under GS 105-113.5 is to be paid or evidence of payment is to be shown by the use of tax stamps. Also directs that evidence of exemption from the taxes levied under GS 105-113.5 is to be shown by the use of tax-exempt stamps. Enacts new GS 105-113.20A permitting only licensed distributors to affix stamps or possess or receive non¬ tax -paid cigarettes. Provides details regarding licensed distributor duties and authority regarding affixing stamps. Provides that the receipt, shipment, or delivery of non-tax-paid cigarettes in a duty-free transaction or a U.S. government transaction is not a violation of this section. Amends GS 105-1 13.21 (a1) to allow a discount per stamp of 2% of the total tax due on each pack of cigarettes. © 2009 School of Government The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This work is copyrighted and subject to "fair use" as permitted by federal copyright law. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of the publisher. Distribution by third parties is prohibited. Prohibited distribution includes, but is not limited to, posting, e-mailing, faxing, archiving in a public database, installing on intranets or servers, and redistributing via a computer network or in printed form. Unauthorized use or reproduction may result in legal action against the unauthorized user.