Assembly Bill A9874

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9874
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 24, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Ways and Means
 
 AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the sale  of  cigarette  tax
   stamps
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 472 of the tax law, as amended  by
 chapter  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, and may from time to time
 and as often as [he deems] DEEMED 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] DEEMED  necessary  and  may  license  agents  for  such
 purpose.  The  commissioner may license dealers in cigarettes, who main-
 tain separate warehousing facilities for the purpose  of  receiving  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 cigarettes, 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] THEIR  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 relating to wholesale dealers' licenses, including the  procedure
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD15131-01-4
 A. 9874                             2
 
 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 subdi-
 vision  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] THEIR services and expenses as such
 agent in selling or affixing such stamps,  and  to  retain  out  of  the
 moneys  to  be paid by [him] SUCH AGENT for such stamps, a commission on
 the  par  value  thereof.  The  commissioner  is  hereby  authorized  to
 prescribe  a  schedule  of  commissions,  not exceeding five per centum,
 allowable to such agent for buying and affixing such stamps. Such sched-
 ule shall be uniform with respect to the different types of stamps used,
 and may be on a graduated scale with respect to  the  number  of  stamps
 purchased.  The  commissioner  may, in [his] THEIR discretion, permit an
 agent to pay for such stamps within [thirty] FORTY-FIVE days  after  the
 date of purchase and may require any such agent to file with the depart-
 ment  of taxation and finance a bond issued by a surety company approved
 by the superintendent of financial services as to solvency and responsi-
 bility and authorized to transact business in the state or other securi-
 ty 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 commis-
 sioner 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.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.