Senate Bill S2008

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 2008--A

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 14, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  GRIFFO, LARKIN -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and when printed to be committed to the  Committee  on  Investigations
  and  Government Operations -- recommitted to the Committee on Investi-
  gations and Government Operations in accordance with  Senate  Rule  6,
  sec.  8  --  committee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
  amended and recommitted to said committee

AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to taxes on cigarettes sold  on
  an Indian reservation to non-members of the Indian nation or tribe

  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

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05161-02-1
              

S. 2008--A                          2

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
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  dollars  and thirty-five cents for each twenty cigarettes or frac-
tion 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.
PROVIDED FURTHER THAT IF THE STATE FAILS TO COLLECT TAXES ON  CIGARETTES
SOLD  ON  AN  INDIAN  RESERVATION TO NON-MEMBERS OF THE INDIAN NATION OR
TRIBE BY SEPTEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWELVE, THAT SUCH  CIGARETTE  TAX
RATE  WOULD  REVERT TO THE RATE OF TWO DOLLARS AND SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS AS
PREVIOUSLY STATED IN LAW BEFORE THE PASSAGE OF CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIR-
TY-FOUR OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND TEN. ONCE THE STATE BEGINS  COLLECT-
ING  TAXES ON CIGARETTES SOLD ON AN INDIAN RESERVATION TO NON-MEMBERS OF
THE INDIAN NATION OR TRIBE, THE CIGARETTE TAX RATE WOULD BE  IMPOSED  AT
FOUR  DOLLARS  AND THIRTY-FIVE CENTS AS SPECIFIED IN CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
THIRTY-FOUR OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND TEN. 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.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.