§ 483. Definitions. (a) Any term which is defined by section four
hundred seventy of this chapter shall have the same meaning when used in
this article, except that for purposes of this article the following
terms shall have the meanings herein indicated:

1. "Basic cost of cigarettes" shall mean the invoice cost of
cigarettes to the agent who purchases from the manufacturer, or the
replacement cost of cigarettes to the agent, in the quantity last
purchased, whichever is lower, less all trade discounts, except
discounts for cash, to which shall be added the full face value of any
stamps which may be required by law.

2. "Wholesale dealer" shall mean any person, other than an agent, who
sells cigarettes to retail dealers or other persons for purposes of
resale only and who maintains a separate warehousing facility for the
purpose of receiving and distributing cigarettes and conducting its
wholesale business. If such person is also a retail dealer, such person
shall maintain separate premises for such retail business. It shall not
include a vending machine operator.

3. "Chain store" shall mean any person or persons who owns or
maintains fifteen or more retail outlets in New York state, having one
hundred percent common ownership, through which cigarettes are sold at
retail. Vending machine operators who sell cigarettes at not less than
fifteen separate outlets shall be considered to be chain stores. It
shall also include cooperative members, franchisees and large volume
outlets. No person shall be considered to be a chain store unless such
person has been registered with the commissioner of taxation and finance
as provided in section four hundred eighty-nine of this chapter.

4. "Retail dealer" means any person engaged in selling cigarettes at
retail, and shall include a chain store, a wholesale dealer or an agent
for purposes of its sales of cigarettes to consumers.

5. "Cooperative member" shall mean any member of a "cooperative" as
defined in subdivision (c) of section three of the cooperative
corporations law, which operates a distribution center from which
members purchase grocery products, including prepackaged food and
non-food products such as paper products, soaps and detergents for
resale and whose members sell cigarettes at retail through fifteen or
more separate establishments in New York state. In order to qualify as a
"cooperative member" for the purposes of this article, a dealer must
share in the profits and losses of the cooperative and must have
purchased at least twenty-five percent of the merchandise it purchased
for resale during the preceding three months from such cooperative,
excluding cigarettes and petroleum products. Such volume of purchases
shall be measured by the amount paid for such merchandise, prior to any
patronage dividends or refunds based on patronage.

The registrations of those cooperative members registered as chain
stores prior to the effective date of the chapter of the laws of
nineteen hundred ninety which added this paragraph shall not be revoked
by reason of their failure to meet the twenty-five percent purchase
requirement, the requirement that a cooperative member belongs to a
cooperative which operates a distribution center or the sharing in the
profits and losses requirement of this paragraph five, and upon each
successive reregistration pursuant to section four hundred eighty-nine
of this chapter, such cooperative members shall not be subject to such
requirements, but shall be subject to all other requirements of this
article.

6. "Franchisee" shall mean any person or persons engaged in the sale
of cigarettes as a retail dealer who is a "franchisee" as defined in
article thirty-three of the general business law, and whose franchisor
franchises fifteen or more separate retail establishments in New York
state through which cigarettes are sold.

7. "Large volume outlet operator" shall mean any person or persons who
sell cigarettes at one or more retail outlets each of which had annual
gross sales in the previous calendar year of more than two million
dollars excluding petroleum products in this state.

(b) 1. (A) The term "cost of the agent" shall mean the basic cost of
cigarettes plus the cost of doing business by the agent as evidenced by
the accounting standards and methods regularly employed by said agent in
his determination of costs for the purpose of federal income tax
reporting for the total operation of his establishment, and must
include, without limitation, labor, including salaries of executives and
officers, rent, depreciation, selling costs, maintenance of equipment,
delivery costs, interest payable, all types of licenses, taxes,
insurance and advertising expressed as a percentage and applied to the
basic cost of cigarettes. Any fractional part of a cent in the cost to
the agent per carton of cigarettes shall be rounded off to the next
higher cent. In the case of sales at retail by an agent, the "cost of
the agent" shall be the same as the "cost of the retail dealer". In the
case of sales of cigarettes to a chain store having fifteen or more
retail outlets, excluding vending machine operators, which are delivered
to a central warehouse owned and operated by such chain store and which
are delivered to its retail outlets by the chain store, the "cost of the
agent" shall be presumed to be the basic cost of cigarettes. There shall
be determined a separate cost of the agent for sales to wholesale
dealers and for sales to retail dealers.

(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 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, one and
one-half percent of the basic cost of cigarettes for sales to chain
stores plus one cent 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 and three and
seven-eighths percent of the basic cost of cigarettes with respect to
sales to retail dealers plus one cent 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 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.

2. (A) The term "cost of the wholesale dealer" shall mean the basic
cost of cigarettes plus the cost of doing business by the wholesale
dealer as evidenced by the accounting standards and methods regularly
employed by said wholesale dealer in his determination of costs for the
purpose of federal income tax reporting for the total operation of his
establishment, and must include, without limitation, labor, including
salaries of executives and officers, rent, depreciation, selling costs,
maintenance of equipment, delivery costs, interest payable, all types of
licenses, taxes, insurance and advertising expressed as a percentage and
applied to the basic cost of cigarettes, plus the cost of doing business
by the agent with respect to sales of cigarettes to wholesale dealers.
Any fractional part of a cent in the cost to the wholesale dealer per
carton of cigarettes shall be rounded off to the next higher cent. In
the case of sales at retail by a wholesale dealer, the "cost of the
wholesale dealer" shall be the same as the "cost of the retail dealer".
There shall be determined a separate cost of the wholesale dealer for
sales to chain stores and for sales to retail dealers.

(B) In the absence of the filing with the tax commission of
satisfactory proof of a lesser cost of doing business of the wholesale
dealer making the sale, the cost of doing business by the wholesale
dealer with respect to sales to retail dealers shall be presumed to be
three per centum of the basic cost of cigarettes, and with respect to
sales to chain stores, five-eighths of one percent of the basic cost of
cigarettes.

3. (A) The term "cost of the retail dealer" shall mean the basic cost
of cigarettes plus the cost of doing business by the retail dealer as
evidenced by the accounting standards and methods regularly employed by
said retail dealer in his determination of costs for the purpose of
federal income tax reporting for the total operation of his
establishment, and shall include, without limitation, labor, including
salaries of executives and officers, rent, depreciation, selling costs,
maintenance of equipment, delivery costs, interest payable, all types of
licenses, taxes, insurance and advertising expressed as a percentage and
applied to the basic cost of cigarettes, plus the cost of doing business
by the agent with respect to sales of cigarettes to retail dealers. Any
fractional part of a cent in the cost to the retail dealer per package
or per carton shall be rounded off to the next higher cent.

(B) In the absence of the filing with the commissioner of taxation and
finance of satisfactory proof of a lesser cost of doing business by the
retail dealer making the sale, the cost of doing business by the retail
dealer shall be presumed to be seven per centum of the sum of the basic
cost of cigarettes plus the cost of doing business by the agent with
respect to cigarettes sold to retail dealers.