SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to:
(a) Prevent nonsettling manufacturers from
undermining this state's policy of discouraging underage smoking by offering
cigarettes and cigarette tobacco products at prices that are substantially
below the prices of cigarettes and cigarette tobacco products of other
manufacturers;
(b) Protect the tobacco settlement agreement,
and funding, which has been reduced because of the growth of sales of
nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes and cigarette tobacco products, for
programs that are funded wholly or partly by payments to this state under the
tobacco settlement agreement and recoup for this state settlement payment revenue
lost because of sales of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes and cigarette
tobacco products;
(c) Provide funding to enforce and administer
this act and any legislation relating to nonsettling manufacturers; and
(d) Provide funding for any other purpose the
Legislature determines.
SECTION 2. As used in this
act:
(a) "Brand family" means each style of
cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products sold under the same trademark and
differentiated from one another by means of additional modifiers, including
"menthol," "lights," "kings," and
"100s." The term includes any
style of cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products that have a brand name,
trademark, logo, symbol, motto, selling message, recognizable pattern of
colors, or other indication of product identification that is identical to,
similar to, or identifiable with a previously known brand of cigarettes or
cigarette tobacco products.
(b) "Cigarette" means any product that
contains nicotine and is intended to be burned or heated under ordinary
conditions of use. The term includes:
(i) A roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or
another substance that does not contain tobacco;
(ii) Tobacco, in any form, that is functional in
a product that, because of the product's appearance, the type of tobacco used
in the filler, or the product's packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered
to or purchased by a consumer as a cigarette; or
(iii) A roll of tobacco wrapped in any substance
containing tobacco that, because of the product's appearance, the type of
tobacco used in the filler, or the product's packaging and labeling, is likely
to be offered to or purchased by a consumer as a cigarette.
(c) "Cigarette tobacco product" means
roll-your-own tobacco or tobacco that, because of the tobacco's appearance,
type, packaging, or labeling, is suitable for use in making cigarettes and is
likely to be offered to or purchased by a consumer for that purpose.
(d) "Commissioner" means the Chairman
of the State Tax Commission and his authorized agents and employees.
(e) "Manufacturer" means a person that
manufactures, fabricates or assembles cigarettes for sale or distribution. For purposes of this act, the term includes
a person that is the first importer into the United States of cigarettes and
cigarette tobacco products manufactured outside the United States.
(f) "Master settlement agreement"
means the settlement agreement and related documents entered into in 1998 by
forty-six (46) states and leading United States tobacco manufacturers.
(g) "Nonsettling manufacturer" means a
manufacturer of cigarettes that did not sign the tobacco settlement agreement.
(h) "Nonsettling-manufacturer
cigarettes" means cigarettes manufactured, fabricated, assembled or
imported by a nonsettling manufacturer.
(i) "Nonsettling manufacturer cigarette
tobacco products" means cigarette tobacco products manufactured,
fabricated assembled or imported by a nonsettling manufacturer.
(j) "Tobacco settlement agreement"
means the Comprehensive Settlement Agreement and Release filed December 29,
1997, in the Chancery Court of Jackson County, State of Mississippi, in the
case styled In Re Mike Moore, Attorney General, ex rel. State of
Mississippi Tobacco Litigation, Cause No. 94-1429,
and all subsequent amendments thereto.
(k) "Distributor" shall have the same
meaning ascribed to that term in Section 27-69-3.
SECTION
3.
(1) A fee is
imposed on the sale, use, consumption or distribution in this state of:
(a) Nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes if a
stamp is required to be affixed to a package of those cigarettes under the
Tobacco Tax Law;
(b) Nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes that are
sold, purchased or distributed in this state but that are not required to have
a stamp affixed to a package of those cigarettes under the Tobacco Tax Law; and
(c) Nonsettling manufacturer cigarette tobacco
products that are subject to the tax imposed by Section 27-69-13.
(2) The fee imposed by this act does not apply
to cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products that are included in computing
payments due to be made by a settling manufacturer under the tobacco settlement
agreement.
(3) The fee imposed by this act is in addition
to any other privilege, license, fee or tax required or imposed by state law.
(4) Except as otherwise provided by this act,
the fee imposed by this act is imposed, collected, paid, administered, and
enforced in the same manner, taking into account that the fee is imposed on
nonsettling manufacturers, as the taxes imposed by the Tobacco Tax Law, as appropriate.
SECTION 4. (1) Except as provided by subsection (2) of this
section, the fee is imposed at the rate of Two and Three-twentieths
Cents (2-3/20¢) for:
(a)
Each nonsettling-manufacturer cigarette; and
(b) Each nine one-hundredths (0.09) ounce of
nonsettling-manufacturer cigarette tobacco product.
(2) On January 1 of each year, the fee
prescribed by subsection (1) of this section shall increase by the greater of:
(a) Three percent (3%); or
(b) The percentage increase in the most recent annual
revised Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, as published by the
Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor.
(3) The revenue collected from the fee imposed
by this section shall be deposited into the State General Fund.
SECTION 5. (1) A distributor required to file a monthly
report under Section 27-69-35, shall, in addition to the information required
by that section, include in the report the following information:
(a) The number and denominations of stamps
affixed to individual packages of nonsettling manufacturer cigarettes during
the preceding month;
(b) The number of individual packages of
nonsettling manufacturer cigarettes sold or purchased in this state or
otherwise distributed in this state for sale in the United States; and
(c) Any other information the commissioner
considers necessary or appropriate to determine the amount of the fee imposed
by this act or to enforce this act.
(2) The information required by subsection
(1)(a) and (b) must be itemized for each place of business and by manufacturer
and brand family.
(3) The requirement to report information under
this section shall be enforced in the same manner as the requirement to deliver
to or file with the comptroller a report required under the Tobacco Tax Law.
SECTION 6. (1) Each month, not later than the 10th day
after the date the commissioner receives the information required by Section 5
of this act, the commissioner shall:
(a) Compute the amount of the fee imposed by this
act that each nonsettling manufacturer owes for that reporting period based on
that information and any other information available to the commissioner; and
(b) Mail to each nonsettling manufacturer a
notice of the amount of fee the manufacturer owes.
(2) Not later than the 15th day of the month
after the month in which the commissioner mails a nonsettling manufacturer a
notice under subsection (1) of this section, the nonsettling manufacturer shall
send to the commissioner the amount of the fee due according to the notice.
SECTION
7.
(1) Not later
than the first day of each month, a nonsettling manufacturer who is required to
pay the fee imposed by this act shall certify to the Attorney General that the
manufacturer is in compliance with this act and has paid in full the fee
imposed by this act.
(2) The Attorney
General shall develop, maintain and publish on the Attorney General's Internet
Web site a directory listing of all nonsettling manufacturers that have been
provided current, accurate and complete certifications. The listing shall
also include all manufacturers of cigarettes that signed the tobacco settlement
agreement.
(3) The Attorney General shall provide the list
described by subsection (2) of this section to any person on request.
SECTION 8. (1) If cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products
of a nonsettling manufacturer are not offered for sale or distribution in this
state on September 1, 2005, the nonsettling manufacturer may not offer those
cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products for sale or distribution in this state
after that date unless the manufacturer first prepays the fee imposed by this
act for sales of cigarettes and cigarette tobacco products that will occur in
the first calendar month in which they are sold or distributed in this state.
(2) The amount a nonsettling manufacturer is
required to prepay under this section is equal to the greater of:
(a) The rate prescribed by Section 4 of this act
in effect on that date multiplied by:
(i) The number of cigarettes the commissioner
reasonably projects that the nonsettling manufacturer will sell or distribute
in this state during that calendar month; and
(ii) Each nine one-hundredths (0.09) ounce of
nonsettling manufacturer cigarette tobacco products the commissioner reasonably
projects that the nonsettling manufacturer will sell or distribute in this
state during that calendar month; or
(b) Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00).
(3) The fee imposed by this section does not
apply to cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products that are included in
computing payments due to be made by a settling manufacturer under the tobacco
settlement agreement.
(4) The commissioner may require a nonsettling
manufacturer to provide any information reasonably necessary to determine the
prepayment amount.
(5) The commissioner shall establish procedures
to:
(a) Reimburse a nonsettling manufacturer if the
actual sales or distributions in the first calendar month are less than the
projected sales or distributions; and
(b) Require additional payments if the actual
sales or distributions in the first calendar month are greater than the
projected sales or distributions.
(6) A nonsettling manufacturer shall pay the fee
imposed by this act in the manner provided by Section 27-69-91, beginning in
the second calendar month in which the manufacturer offers the cigarettes or
cigarette tobacco products for sale or distribution in this state.
SECTION
9.
(1) In
addition to prepaying the fee required by Section 8 of this act, a nonsettling
manufacturer described by Section 8(1) of this act shall, before the date the
cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products are offered for sale or distribution
in this state, provide to the Attorney General on a form prescribed by the
Attorney General:
(a) The nonsettling manufacturer's complete
name, address and telephone number;
(b)
The date that the nonsettling manufacturer will begin offering
cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products for sale or distribution in this
state;
(c) The names of the brand families of the
cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products that the nonsettling manufacturer will
offer for sale or distribution in this state;
(d) A statement that the nonsettling
manufacturer intends to comply with this act; and
(e) The name, address, telephone number and
signature of an officer of the nonsettling manufacturer attesting to all of the
included information.
(2) The Attorney General shall make the
information provided under this section available to the commissioner.
SECTION 10. (1) Cigarettes and cigarette tobacco products of
a nonsettling manufacturer that has not complied with this act, including full
payment of the fee imposed by this act, shall be treated as tobacco for which
the tax assessed by the Tobacco Tax Law, has not been paid, and the
manufacturer is subject to all penalties imposed by that act for violations of
that act.
(2) The commissioner shall provide to a
nonsettling manufacturer and each distributor authorized to affix tax stamps
pursuant to the Tobacco Tax Act, a notice of noncompliance with this act if the
manufacturer:
(a) Does not pay in full the fee imposed by this
act; or
(b) Is not included on the list described by
Section 7(2) of this act.
(3) If a nonsettling manufacturer does not
appear in the Attorney General's directory required by Section 7(2) of this
act, or upon receipt of the notice of noncompliance described in subsection (2)
of this section with respect to a nonsettling manufacturer, no distributor may,
with respect to cigarettes manufactured by such nonsettling manufacturer:
(a) Pay the tax imposed by the Tobacco Tax Law;
(b) Affix to a package of cigarettes the stamp
required by Section 27-69-15; or
(c) Otherwise purchase, sell or distribute
cigarettes manufactured by such nonsettling manufacturer in this state.
SECTION 11. Any nonsettling
manufacturer that complies with the provisions of this act shall be granted the
same civil immunity granted to settling manufacturers in the tobacco settlement
agreement; provided, however, that such nonsettling manufacturer shall be
subject, when applicable, to the same mandates and restrictions imposed in the
settlement agreement on the settling manufacturers.
SECTION
12.
This act applies without regard to Section 27-69-19, or any other law
that might be read to create an exemption for interstate sales.
SECTION
13.
(1) Not later
than September 30, 2006, a nonsettling manufacturer that is offering cigarettes
or cigarette tobacco products for sale or distribution in this state on September
1, 2006, shall provide to the Attorney General on a form prescribed by the
Attorney General:
(a) The nonsettling manufacturer's complete
name, address, and telephone number;
(b) The date that the nonsettling manufacturer
began offering cigarettes or cigarette tobacco products for sale or
distribution in this state;
(c)
The names of the brand families of the cigarettes or cigarette tobacco
products that the nonsettling manufacturer offers for sale or distribution in
this state;
(d) A statement that the nonsettling
manufacturer intends to comply with this act; and
(e) The name, address, telephone number and
signature of an officer of the nonsettling manufacturer attesting to all of the
included information.
(2) The Attorney General shall make the
information provided under subsection (1) of this section available to the
commissioner.
SECTION 14. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after
September 1, 2006.
AN ACT TO IMPOSE A FEE ON NONSETTLING-MANUFACTURER
CIGARETTES; TO REQUIRE MONTHLY REPORTING OF THE NUMBER AND DENOMINATION OF
STAMPS AFFIXED TO PACKAGES OF NONSETTLING-MANUFACTURER CIGARETTES, THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL PACKAGES OF NONSETTLING-MANUFACTURER
CIGARETTES SOLD OR PURCHASED IN THIS STATE OR OTHERWISE DISTRIBUTED IN THIS
STATE FOR SALE IN THE UNITED STATES AND ANY OTHER INFORMATION THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION CONSIDERS NECESSARY OR APPROPRIATE TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF THE
FEE IMPOSED BY THIS ACT OR TO ENFORCE THIS ACT; TO REQUIRE
REGISTRATION OF NONSETTLING MANUFACTURERS WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL; TO REQUIRE
DEVELOPMENT, MAINTENANCE AND PUBLICATION BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF A LIST OF
NONSETTLING MANUFACTURERS THAT HAVE CERTIFIED THEIR COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ACT;
TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED BY THIS ACT; TO GRANT
CIVIL IMMUNITY TO NONSETTLING MANUFACTURERS THAT COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF
THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.