S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3544
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 30, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. STAVISKY, HOYLMAN, KRUEGER, PARKER -- read twice and
   ordered  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
   Budget and Revenue
 
 AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to increasing the state  excise
   tax on cigarettes
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 471 of the tax law, as amended  by
 section  1  of  part D of chapter 134 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
 read as follows:
   1. There is hereby imposed and shall be paid a tax on  all  cigarettes
 possessed  in the state by any person for sale, except that no tax shall
 be imposed on cigarettes sold under such circumstances that  this  state
 is  without power to impose such tax, including sales to qualified Indi-
 ans for their own use and consumption on their nations' or tribes' qual-
 ified reservation, or sold to the United States  or  sold  to  or  by  a
 voluntary  unincorporated organization of the armed forces of the United
 States operating a place for the sale of goods pursuant  to  regulations
 promulgated by the appropriate executive agency of the United States, to
 the extent provided in such regulations and policy statements of such an
 agency  applicable  to  such  sales.  The tax imposed by this section is
 imposed on all cigarettes sold on an Indian reservation  to  non-members
 of  the  Indian  nation or tribe and to non-Indians and evidence of such
 tax shall be by means of an affixed cigarette tax stamp. Indian  nations
 or  tribes  may  elect to participate in the Indian tax exemption coupon
 system established in section four hundred seventy-one-e of this article
 which provides a mechanism for the collection of the tax imposed by this
 section on cigarette sales on qualified reservations to such non-members
 and non-Indians and for the delivery of quantities of  tax-exempt  ciga-
 rettes  to Indian nations or tribes for the personal use and consumption
 of qualified members of the Indian nation or tribe. If an Indian  nation

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD00285-01-1

 S. 3544                             2
 
 or  tribe  does  not  elect  to  participate in the Indian tax exemption
 coupon system, the prior approval system shall be the mechanism for  the
 delivery  of  quantities  of  tax-exempt cigarettes to Indian nations or
 tribes  for the personal use and consumption of qualified members of the
 Indian nation or tribe as provided for in paragraph (b)  of  subdivision
 five  of  this  section.  Such tax on cigarettes shall be at the rate of
 [four] SIX dollars and [thirty-five] TWENTY-FOUR cents for  each  twenty
 cigarettes  or fraction thereof, provided, however, that if a package of
 cigarettes contains more than twenty cigarettes, the rate of tax on  the
 cigarettes  in  such package in excess of twenty shall be one dollar and
 eight and three-quarters cents for  each  five  cigarettes  or  fraction
 thereof.  Such  tax  is intended to be imposed upon only one sale of the
 same package of cigarettes. It shall be  presumed  that  all  cigarettes
 within  the  state are subject to tax until the contrary is established,
 and the burden of proof that any cigarettes are  not  taxable  hereunder
 shall be upon the person in possession thereof.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.