BILL NUMBER: AB 1901	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 14, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Quirk

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act to amend Section 30473.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code,
relating to taxation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1901, as amended, Quirk. Taxation: cigarettes: unaffixed
stamps.
   The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law imposes a tax on
distributors of cigarettes at the rate of $0.87 per package of 20
cigarettes. That law requires that tax be paid through the use of
stamps or meter impressions, and requires that these stamps or meter
impressions be affixed to each package of cigarettes distributed.
That law also imposes a fine of up to $50,000, as specified, or
imprisonment not to exceed one year in county jail, or both, for
possessing, selling, or buying false or fraudulent cigarette tax
stamps or meter impressions, and requires the destruction by the
State Board of Equalization of any stamps seized. Existing law
requires any fines assessed to be deposited in the Cigarette and
Tobacco Products Compliance Fund, amounts in which are available for
specified expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature.
   This bill would extend those penalties for possessing, selling, or
buying unaffixed cigarette tax stamps, and would require any fines
assessed to be deposited in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products
Compliance Fund. This bill would require the board to destroy any
unaffixed cigarette tax stamps.
   By expanding the scope of existing crimes, this bill imposes a
state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 30473.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
amended to read:
   30473.5.  (a) Any person who possesses, sells, or offers to sell,
or buys or offers to buy, any false, fraudulent, or unaffixed stamps
or meter impressions provided for or authorized under this part in a
quantity of less than 2,000 is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by
a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment
not exceeding one year in a county jail, or by both the fine and
imprisonment.
   (b) Any person who possesses, sells, or offers to sell, or buys or
offers to buy any false, fraudulent, or unaffixed stamps or meter
impressions provided for or authorized under this part in a quantity
of 2,000 or greater, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine
not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment not
exceeding one year in a county jail, or by both the fine and
imprisonment. The court shall order any fines assessed be deposited
in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Compliance Fund.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "unaffixed stamps"  means
stamps for which the tax has previously been paid by a licensed
distributor and previously affixed to a package. "Unaffixed stamps"
 do not include any unused and unapplied rolls of stamps or
loose stamps  acquired from the board or its authorized agent and
 in the possession of a licensed distributor.
   (d) The board shall destroy any stamps seized under this section.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.