S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
1958--D
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
(PREFILED)
January 9, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
ment Operations -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted
to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to increasing the presumed
"cost of the agent" relating to cigarette marketing standards; and to
amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the cigarette
tax enforcement account; and making an appropriation therefor
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 1 of subdivision (b) of
section 483 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 1999,
is amended to read as follows:
(B) In the absence of the filing with the commissioner of satisfactory
proof of a lesser cost of doing business of the agent making the sale,
the cost of doing business by the agent shall be presumed to be seven-
eighths of one percent of the basic cost of cigarettes for sales to
wholesale dealers plus [one cent] NINE CENTS per package of [ten] ciga-
rettes, [two cents per package of twenty cigarettes and in the case of a
package containing more than twenty cigarettes, two cents and one-half
of a cent for each five cigarettes in excess of twenty cigarettes]
REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF CIGARETTES CONTAINED IN SUCH PACKAGE, one
and one-half percent of the basic cost of cigarettes for sales to chain
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02219-09-4
S. 1958--D 2
stores plus [one cent] NINE CENTS per package of [ten] cigarettes, [two
cents per package of twenty cigarettes and in the case of a package
containing more than twenty cigarettes, two cents and one-half of a cent
for each five cigarettes in excess of twenty cigarettes] REGARDLESS OF
THE NUMBER OF CIGARETTES CONTAINED IN SUCH PACKAGE, and three and
seven-eighths percent of the basic cost of cigarettes with respect to
sales to retail dealers plus [one cent] NINE CENTS per package of [ten]
cigarettes, [two cents per package of twenty cigarettes and in the case
of a package containing more than twenty cigarettes, two cents and one-
half of a cent for each five cigarettes in excess of twenty cigarettes]
REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF CIGARETTES IN SUCH PACKAGE and the foregoing
cents per pack shall be included in the "cost of doing business by the
agent" referred to in paragraphs two and three of this subdivision.
S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 472 of the tax law, as amended by chap-
ter 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 ENFORCE-
MENT ACCOUNT ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION NINETY-SEVEN-OOOO 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 receiv-
ing and distributing cigarettes and conducting their business, who have
received commitments from at least two cigarette manufacturers whose
aggregate market share is at least forty percent of the New York state
cigarette market, and importers, exporters and manufacturers of ciga-
rettes, 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 deal-
ers' 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 exceed-
S. 1958--D 3
ing five per centum, allowable to such agent for buying and affixing
such stamps. Such schedule shall be uniform with respect to the differ-
ent 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.
S 3. Section 482 of the tax law, as amended by section 2 of part T of
chapter 61 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
S 482. Deposit and disposition of revenue. (a) All taxes, fees, inter-
est and penalties collected or received by the commissioner under this
article and article twenty-A of this chapter shall be deposited and
disposed of pursuant to the provisions of section one hundred seventy-
one-a of this chapter. (b) From the taxes, interest and penalties
collected or received by the commissioner under sections four hundred
seventy-one and four hundred seventy-one-a of this article, effective on
and after March first, two thousand, forty-nine and fifty-five
hundredths, and effective on and after February first, two thousand two,
forty-three and seventy hundredths; and effective on and after May
first, two thousand two, sixty-four and fifty-five hundredths; and
effective on and after April first, two thousand three, sixty-one and
twenty-two hundredths percent; and effective on and after June third,
two thousand eight, seventy and sixty-three hundredths percent; and
effective on and after July first, two thousand ten, seventy-six percent
collected or received under those sections must be deposited to the
credit of the tobacco control and insurance initiatives pool to be
established and distributed by the commissioner of health in accordance
with section twenty-eight hundred seven-v of the public health law. (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 ACCOUNT ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION
NINETY-SEVEN-OOOO OF THE STATE FINANCE LAW THE CONCURRENT EXPENSE ALLOW-
ANCE FOR THE CIGARETTE TAX ENFORCEMENT FUND OF FOUR CENTS PER STAMP.
S 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 97-oooo
to read as follows:
S 97-OOOO. CIGARETTE TAX ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNT. 1. THERE IS HEREBY
CREATED IN THE JOINT CUSTODY OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER AND THE COMMIS-
SIONER OF TAXATION AND FINANCE AN ACCOUNT OF THE MISCELLANEOUS SPECIAL
REVENUE FUND TO BE KNOWN AS THE "CIGARETTE TAX ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNT".
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 ACCOUNT MONIES
RECEIVED FROM THE COMMISSIONER OF TAXATION AND FINANCE FROM THE CONCUR-
RENT EXPENSE ALLOWANCE PAID PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION FOUR
S. 1958--D 4
HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO OF THE TAX LAW, AND OTHER MONIES APPROPRIATED, CRED-
ITED OR TRANSFERRED THERETO FROM ANY OTHER FUND OR SOURCE.
3. THE PROCEEDS OF THE CIGARETTE TAX ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNT SHALL BE USED
SOLELY TO ENFORCE THE COLLECTION OF THE CIGARETTE TAX, AS PROVIDED FOR
IN ARTICLE TWENTY OF THE TAX LAW.
S 5. There is hereby appropriated to the division of state police the
amount of six million dollars ($6,000,000) from the cigarette tax
enforcement account to support cigarette tax enforcement activities.
This appropriation may be apportioned to either the patrol activities or
criminal investigation activities program 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, and may be used to contract with local enforcement agen-
cies for cigarette tax enforcement activities. No monies shall be avail-
able from this appropriation absent a certificate of allocation from the
director of the budget.
S 6. This act shall take effect September 1, 2014 and shall apply in
accordance with the applicable transitional provisions of sections 1106
and 1217 of the tax law.