Bill Text: NY S01981 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Increases the state excise tax on cigarettes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-14 - REFERRED TO BUDGET AND REVENUE [S01981 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-S01981-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1981

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 14, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Budget and Revenue

        AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to increasing the state  excise
          tax on cigarettes

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 471 of the tax law, as amended  by
     2  section  1  of  part  S of chapter 59 of the laws of 2023, is amended to
     3  read as follows:
     4    1. There is hereby imposed and shall be paid a tax on  all  cigarettes
     5  possessed  in the state by any person for sale, except that no tax shall
     6  be imposed on cigarettes sold under such circumstances that  this  state
     7  is  without power to impose such tax, including sales to qualified Indi-
     8  ans for their own use and consumption on their nations' or tribes' qual-
     9  ified reservation, or sold to the United States  or  sold  to  or  by  a
    10  voluntary  unincorporated organization of the armed forces of the United
    11  States operating a place for the sale of goods pursuant  to  regulations
    12  promulgated by the appropriate executive agency of the United States, to
    13  the extent provided in such regulations and policy statements of such an
    14  agency  applicable  to  such  sales.  The tax imposed by this section is
    15  imposed on all cigarettes sold on an Indian reservation  to  non-members
    16  of  the  Indian  nation or tribe and to non-Indians and evidence of such
    17  tax shall be by means of an affixed cigarette tax stamp. Indian  nations
    18  or  tribes  may  elect to participate in the Indian tax exemption coupon
    19  system established in section four hundred seventy-one-e of this article
    20  which provides a mechanism for the collection of the tax imposed by this
    21  section on cigarette sales on qualified reservations to such non-members
    22  and non-Indians and for the delivery of quantities of  tax-exempt  ciga-
    23  rettes  to Indian nations or tribes for the personal use and consumption
    24  of qualified members of the Indian nation or tribe. If an Indian  nation
    25  or  tribe  does  not  elect  to  participate in the Indian tax exemption

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01996-01-5
        S. 1981                             2

     1  coupon system, the prior approval system shall be the mechanism for  the
     2  delivery  of  quantities  of  tax-exempt cigarettes to Indian nations or
     3  tribes for the personal use and consumption of qualified members of  the
     4  Indian  nation  or tribe as provided for in paragraph (b) of subdivision
     5  five of this section. Such tax on cigarettes shall be  at  the  rate  of
     6  [five]  six  dollars and [thirty-five] twenty-four cents for each twenty
     7  cigarettes or fraction thereof, provided, however, that if a package  of
     8  cigarettes  contains more than twenty cigarettes, the rate of tax on the
     9  cigarettes in such package in excess of twenty shall be one  dollar  and
    10  thirty-three  and three-quarters cents for each five cigarettes or frac-
    11  tion thereof. Such tax is intended to be imposed upon only one  sale  of
    12  the same package of cigarettes. It shall be presumed that all cigarettes
    13  within  the  state are subject to tax until the contrary is established,
    14  and the burden of proof that any cigarettes are  not  taxable  hereunder
    15  shall be upon the person in possession thereof.
    16    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.