15 U.S.C. § 376 — Reports to State tobacco tax administrator

Page 730 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 376 ‘‘(1) provides for the administration of tobacco product laws or laws pertaining to interstate sales or other sales of tobacco products; ‘‘(2) provides for the seizure of tobacco products or other property related to a violation of such laws; or ‘‘(3) establishes cooperative programs for the ad- ministration of such laws. ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN- MENTS.—Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to authorize, deputize, or commission States or local governments as instrumen- talities of the United States. ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT WITHIN INDIAN COUNTRY.—Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall prohibit, limit, or restrict enforcement by the Attorney General of the United States of this Act or an amend- ment made by this Act within Indian country. ‘‘(e) AMBIGUITY.—Any ambiguity between the lan- guage of this section or its application and any other provision of this Act shall be resolved in favor of this section. ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘Indian country’ has the meaning given that term in section 1 of the Jenkins Act [Act of October 19, 1949, 15 U.S.C. 375], as amended by this Act; and ‘‘(2) the term ‘tribal enterprise’ means any business enterprise, regardless of whether incorporated or un- incorporated under Federal or tribal law, of an Indian tribe or group of Indian tribes.’’ § 376. Reports to State tobacco tax administrator (a) Contents Any person who sells, transfers, or ships for profit cigarettes or smokeless tobacco in inter- state commerce, whereby such cigarettes or smokeless tobacco are shipped into a State, lo- cality, or Indian country of an Indian tribe tax- ing the sale or use of cigarettes or smokeless to- bacco, or who advertises or offers cigarettes or smokeless tobacco for such a sale, transfer, or shipment, shall— (1) first file with the Attorney General of the United States and with the tobacco tax admin- istrators of the State and place into which such shipment is made or in which such adver- tisement or offer is disseminated a statement setting forth his name and trade name (if any), and the address of his principal place of business and of any other place of business, as well as telephone numbers for each place of business, a principal electronic mail address, any website addresses, and the name, address, and telephone number of an agent in the State authorized to accept service on behalf of the person; (2) not later than the 10th day of each cal- endar month, file with the tobacco tax admin- istrator of the State into which such shipment is made, a memorandum or a copy of the in- voice covering each and every shipment of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco made during the previous calendar month into such State; the memorandum or invoice in each case to in- clude the name and address of the person to whom the shipment was made, the brand, the quantity thereof, and the name, address, and phone number of the person delivering the shipment to the recipient on behalf of the de- livery seller, with all invoice or memoranda information relating to specific customers to be organized by city or town and by zip code; and (3) with respect to each memorandum or in- voice filed with a State under paragraph (2), also file copies of the memorandum or invoice with the tobacco tax administrators and chief law enforcement officers of the local govern- ments and Indian tribes operating within the borders of the State that apply their own local or tribal taxes on cigarettes or smokeless to- bacco. (b) Presumptive evidence The fact that any person ships or delivers for shipment any cigarettes or smokeless tobacco shall, if such shipment is into a State in which such person has filed a statement with the to- bacco tax administrator under subsection (a)(1) of this section, be presumptive evidence that such cigarettes or smokeless tobacco were sold, or transferred for profit, by such person. (c) Use of information A tobacco tax administrator or chief law en- forcement officer who receives a memorandum or invoice under paragraph (2) or (3) of sub- section (a) shall use the memorandum or invoice solely for the purposes of the enforcement of this chapter and the collection of any taxes owed on related sales of cigarettes and smoke- less tobacco, and shall keep confidential any personal information in the memorandum or in- voice except as required for such purposes. (Oct. 19, 1949, ch. 699, § 2, 63 Stat. 884; Aug. 15, 1953, ch. 512, title II, § 201(a), 67 Stat. 617; Aug. 9, 1955, ch. 695, § 1, 69 Stat. 627; Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b), Mar. 31, 2010, 124 Stat. 1090.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(1), (2)(A), in- serted heading and, in introductory provisions, sub- stituted ‘‘cigarettes or smokeless tobacco’’ for ‘‘ciga- rettes’’ wherever appearing, ‘‘, transfers, or ships’’ for ‘‘or transfers’’, and ‘‘, transfer, or shipment’’ for ‘‘or transfer and shipment’’, inserted ‘‘, locality, or Indian country of an Indian tribe’’ after ‘‘a State’’, and struck out ‘‘to other than a distributor licensed by or located in such State,’’ after ‘‘use of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco,’’. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(2)(B), substituted ‘‘with the Attorney General of the United States and with the tobacco tax administrators of the State and place’’ for ‘‘with the tobacco tax administrator of the State’’ and ‘‘, as well as telephone numbers for each place of business, a principal electronic mail address, any website addresses, and the name, address, and tele- phone number of an agent in the State authorized to accept service on behalf of the person;’’ for ‘‘; and’’. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(1), (2)(C), sub- stituted ‘‘cigarettes or smokeless tobacco’’ for ‘‘ciga- rettes’’ and ‘‘the quantity thereof, and the name, ad- dress, and phone number of the person delivering the shipment to the recipient on behalf of the delivery sell- er, with all invoice or memoranda information relating to specific customers to be organized by city or town and by zip code; and’’ for ‘‘and the quantity thereof.’’ Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(2)(D), added par. (3). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(1), (3), inserted heading, substituted ‘‘cigarettes or smokeless tobacco’’ for ‘‘cigarettes’’ in two places and ‘‘evidence that’’ for ‘‘evidence (1) that’’, and struck out ‘‘, and (2) that such sale or transfer was to other than a distributor licensed by or located in such State’’ after ‘‘by such person’’. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(4), added subsec. (c). 1955—Act Aug. 9, 1955, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted provisions requiring filing of a Page 731 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 376a statement of name, trade name, address, and places of business by persons who sell or transfer for profit ciga- rettes in interstate commerce or by persons who adver- tise or offer cigarettes for such sale or transfer, and added subsec. (b). 1953—Act Aug. 15, 1953, required that the memo- randum or copy of invoice be filed with, rather than forwarded to, the tobacco tax administrator. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2010 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–154 effective on the date that is 90 days after March 31, 2010, see section 6 of Pub. L. 111–154, set out as a note under section 375 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1955 AMENDMENT Act Aug. 9, 1955, ch. 695, § 2, 69 Stat. 628, provided that: ‘‘(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the amend- ments made by this Act [amending this section and former sections 375, 377, and 378 of this title] shall take effect thirty days after the date of its enactment [Aug. 9, 1955]. ‘‘(b) The provisions of section 2(a) of the Act of Octo- ber 19, 1949, as amended by this Act [15 U.S.C. 376(a)], insofar as it requires the filing of memoranda or copies of invoices with the appropriate tax administrator for shipments of cigarettes into the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall apply in respect of memoranda or copies of in- voices covering shipments made during calendar months beginning after the month in which this Act is enacted [August 1955].’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1953 AMENDMENT Act Aug. 15, 1953, ch. 512, title II, § 201(b), 67 Stat. 617, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply only in respect of memoranda or copies of invoices covering shipments made during the calendar month in which this Act is enacted [August 1953] and subsequent calendar months.’’ § 376a. Delivery sales (a) In general With respect to delivery sales into a specific State and place, each delivery seller shall com- ply with— (1) the shipping requirements set forth in subsection (b); (2) the recordkeeping requirements set forth in subsection (c); (3) all State, local, tribal, and other laws generally applicable to sales of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco as if the delivery sales oc- curred entirely within the specific State and place, including laws imposing— (A) excise taxes; (B) licensing and tax-stamping require- ments; (C) restrictions on sales to minors; and (D) other payment obligations or legal re- quirements relating to the sale, distribution, or delivery of cigarettes or smokeless to- bacco; and (4) the tax collection requirements set forth in subsection (d). (b) Shipping and packaging (1) Required statement For any shipping package containing ciga- rettes or smokeless tobacco, the delivery sell- er shall include on the bill of lading, if any, and on the outside of the shipping package, on the same surface as the delivery address, a clear and conspicuous statement providing as follows: ‘‘CIGARETTES/NICOTINE/SMOKE- LESS TOBACCO: FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES THE PAYMENT OF ALL APPLICABLE EX- CISE TAXES, AND COMPLIANCE WITH AP- PLICABLE LICENSING AND TAX-STAMP- ING OBLIGATIONS’’. (2) Failure to label Any shipping package described in para- graph (1) that is not labeled in accordance with that paragraph shall be treated as non- deliverable matter by a common carrier or other delivery service, if the common carrier or other delivery service knows or should know the package contains cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. If a common carrier or other delivery service believes a package is being submitted for delivery in violation of paragraph (1), it may require the person sub- mitting the package for delivery to establish that it is not being sent in violation of para- graph (1) before accepting the package for de- livery. Nothing in this paragraph shall require the common carrier or other delivery service to open any package to determine its con- tents. (3) Weight restriction A delivery seller shall not sell, offer for sale, deliver, or cause to be delivered in any single sale or single delivery any cigarettes or smokeless tobacco weighing more than 10 pounds. (4) Age verification (A) In general A delivery seller who mails or ships to- bacco products— (i) shall not sell, deliver, or cause to be delivered any tobacco products to a person under the minimum age required for the legal sale or purchase of tobacco products, as determined by the applicable law at the place of delivery; (ii) shall use a method of mailing or shipping that requires— (I) the purchaser placing the delivery sale order, or an adult who is at least the minimum age required for the legal sale or purchase of tobacco products, as de- termined by the applicable law at the place of delivery, to sign to accept deliv- ery of the shipping container at the de- livery address; and (II) the person who signs to accept de- livery of the shipping container to pro- vide proof, in the form of a valid, govern- ment-issued identification bearing a pho- tograph of the individual, that the per- son is at least the minimum age required for the legal sale or purchase of tobacco products, as determined by the applica- ble law at the place of delivery; and (iii) shall not accept a delivery sale order from a person without— (I) obtaining the full name, birth date, and residential address of that person; and