§ 11-1302 Imposition of tax.
AC § 11-1302
a. There is hereby imposed and shall be paid a tax on: 1. All cigarettes possessed in the city for sale except as hereinafter provided; 2. The use of all cigarettes in the city except as hereinafter provided; 3. It is intended that the ultimate incidence of and liability for the tax shall be upon the consumer, and that any agent, distributor or dealer who shall pay the tax to the director of finance shall collect the tax from the purchaser or consumer. Such tax shall be at the basic rate of two cents for each ten cigarettes or fraction thereof and shall be imposed only once on the same package of cigarettes. In addition to such tax there is hereby imposed an additional tax at the following rates: 1. One and one-half cents for each ten cigarettes where either their tar content exceeds seventeen milligrams per cigarette or their nicotine content exceeds one and one-tenth milligrams per cigarette; 2. Two cents for each ten cigarettes where their tar content exceeds seventeen milligrams per cigarette and their nicotine content exceeds one and one-tenth milligrams per cigarette. b. The tax imposed hereunder shall not apply to: 1. The use, otherwise than for sale, of four hundred cigarettes or less brought into the city, on or in possession of, any person; 2. Cigarettes sold to the United States; 3. Cigarettes 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; 4. Cigarettes possessed in the city by any agent or wholesale dealer for sale to a dealer outside the city or for sale and shipment to any person in another state for use there, provided such agent or wholesale dealer complies with the regulations relating thereto. c. The tax imposed hereunder shall be in addition to any and all other taxes. d. It shall be presumed that all sales or uses mentioned in this section are subject to tax until the contrary is established, and the burden of proof that a sale or use is not taxable hereunder shall be upon the vendor or the purchaser. e. Except as hereinafter provided, the tax shall be advanced and paid by the agent or distributor. The agent shall be liable for the collection and payment of the tax to the commissioner of finance by purchasing from the commissioner of finance adhesive stamps of such design and denomination as may be prescribed by such commissioner, subject to the approval of the state tax commission. The tax may also be paid by the use of such metering machines as are prescribed by the commissioner of finance subject to the approval of the state tax commission. f. Within twenty-four hours after liability for the tax on the use of cigarettes accrues each person liable for the tax shall file with the commissioner of finance a return in such form as the commissioner of finance may prescribe, together with a remittance of the tax shown to be due thereon. g. Agents located within or without the city shall purchase stamps and affix them in the manner prescribed to packages of cigarettes to be sold within the city. h. The amount of taxes advanced and paid by the agent or distributor as hereinabove provided shall be added to and collected as part of the sales price of the cigarettes. i. The commissioner of finance, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, may, subject to the approval of the state tax commission, provide by regulation that the tax imposed by this section shall be collected without the use of stamps. Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2002/010.
