HB160: Cigarette and other tobacco products; increases tax rates.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 32.1-366, 58.1-1001, 58.1-1018, 58.1-1021.02, and 58.1-1021.05 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 32.1-366. Virginia Health Care Fund established.
A. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Virginia Health Care Fund, hereafter referred to as the "Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller and any moneys remaining in the Fund at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. For purposes of the Comptroller's preliminary and final annual reports required by § 2.2-813, however, all deposits to and disbursements from the Fund shall be accounted for as part of the general fund of the state treasury.
B. All revenue received by the Commonwealth that is dedicated to the Fund pursuant to the provisions of (i) §§ 58.1-1001 and 58.1-1018, (ii) Article 2.1 (§ 58.1-1021.01 et seq.) of Chapter 10 of Title 58.1, and (iii) § 3.2-4203 shall be paid into the state treasury and deposited to the Fund. The Comptroller shall also deposit 40 percent of the Commonwealth's allocation pursuant to the Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco product manufacturers, as defined in § 3.2-3100, to the Fund. The Fund shall also consist of all recoveries received during a fiscal year resulting from expenditures incurred in the Medicaid program during a prior fiscal year or years to the extent that such amounts represent recoveries of state funds that would otherwise be deposited to the general fund of the state treasury.
§ 58.1-1001. Tax levied; rate.
A. Except as provided in subsection B, in addition to all
other taxes now imposed by law, every person within this Commonwealth who
sells, stores or receives cigarettes made of tobacco or any substitute thereof,
for the purpose of distribution to any person within this Commonwealth, shall
pay to this Commonwealth an excise tax of one and one-quarter mills on each
such cigarette sold, stored or received before August 1, 2004; an excise tax of
one cent on each such cigarette sold, stored or received on and after August 1,
2004, through midnight on June 30, 2005; and
an excise tax of 1.5 cents ($0.015) on
each such cigarette sold, stored or received on and after July 1, 2005, through midnight on June 30, 2012;
and an excise tax of 7.25 cents ($0.0725) on each such cigarette sold, stored, or received on and after July 1, 2012.
B. In addition to all other taxes now imposed by law, every
person within the Commonwealth who sells, stores, or receives roll-your-own
tobacco, for the purpose of distribution within the Commonwealth, shall pay to
the Commonwealth a cigarette excise tax at the rate of 10% 50 percent of the manufacturer's sales price of such
roll-your-own tobacco.
C. The 1. Except as
is provided in subdivision 2, revenues
generated by the taxes imposed under this section on and after August 1, 2004,
shall be collected by the Department and deposited into the Virginia Health
Care Fund established under § 32.1-366.
2. The revenues generated by the taxes under this article that are attributable solely to the increase in the tax rate enacted by the 2012 Session of the General Assembly shall be appropriated each fiscal year as follows: (i) four percent to the Virginia Department of Health for the Virginia state tobacco quitline, (ii) four percent to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to prevent tobacco use, and (iii) the remaining amount to increase the total annual appropriations to localities pursuant to the Personal Property Tax Relief Act in Chapter 35.1 (§ 58.1-3523 et seq.) above the total amount appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.
§ 58.1-1018. Tax imposed on storage, use or consumption of cigarettes; exemption of products on which sales tax has been paid.
A. An excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use or other consumption in this Commonwealth of cigarettes purchased at retail in an amount equal to that set out in § 58.1-1001. Every person storing, using or otherwise consuming in this Commonwealth cigarettes purchased at retail shall be liable for the tax imposed by this article, and the liability shall not be extinguished until the tax has been paid to this Commonwealth; however, if such cigarettes have attached thereto the requisite stamps or if the excise tax imposed by Article 1 (§ 58.1-1000 et seq.) has been paid by the seller of such cigarettes, then the tax imposed by this article shall not be due.
The B. 1. Except
as is provided in subdivision 2, the
revenues generated by the tax imposed under this section on
and after August 1, 2004, shall be collected by the Department and deposited
into the Virginia Health Care Fund established under § 32.1-366.
2. The revenues generated by the taxes under this article that are attributable solely to the increase in the tax rate enacted by the 2012 Session of the General Assembly shall be appropriated each fiscal year as follows: (i) four percent to the Virginia Department of Health for the Virginia state tobacco quitline, (ii) four percent to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to prevent tobacco use, and (iii) the remaining amount to increase the total annual appropriations to localities pursuant to the Personal Property Tax Relief Act in Chapter 35.1 (§ 58.1-3523 et seq.) above the total amount appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.
§ 58.1-1021.02. Tax on tobacco products.
A. In addition to all other taxes now imposed by law, there is hereby imposed a tax upon the privilege of selling or dealing in tobacco products in the Commonwealth by any person engaged in business as a distributor thereof, at the following rates:
1. Upon each package of moist snuff, at the rate of $0.18 per ounce with a proportionate tax at the same rate on all fractional parts of an ounce. The tax shall be computed based on the net weight as listed by the manufacturer on the package in accordance with federal law.
2. For purposes of the tax under this article, loose leaf tobacco shall be classified as loose leaf tobacco single-units, loose leaf tobacco half pound-units, and loose leaf tobacco pound-units. Such tax shall be imposed on the distributor for loose leaf tobacco as follows:
a. $0.21 for each loose leaf tobacco single-unit;
b. $0.40 for each loose leaf tobacco half pound-unit;
c. $0.70 for each loose leaf tobacco pound-unit; and
d. For any other unit, pouch, or package of loose leaf
tobacco, the tax shall be by net weight and shall be $0.21 per unit, pouch, or
package plus $0.21 for each increment of 4
four ounces
or portion thereof that the loose leaf tobacco exceeds 16 ounces.
The tax for each unit, pouch, or package of loose leaf tobacco shall be in accordance with the provisions of subdivisions a. through d. only and regardless of sales price.
3. Upon tobacco products other than moist snuff or loose leaf
tobacco, at the rate of 10 50 percent of the
manufacturer's sales price of such tobacco products.
Such tax shall be imposed at the time the distributor (i) brings or causes to be brought into the Commonwealth from outside the Commonwealth tobacco products for sale; (ii) makes, manufactures, or fabricates tobacco products in the Commonwealth for sale in the Commonwealth; or (iii) ships or transports tobacco products to retailers in the Commonwealth to be sold by those retailers. It is the intent and purpose of this article that the distributor who first possesses the tobacco product subject to this tax in the Commonwealth shall be the distributor liable for the tax. It is further the intent and purpose of this article to impose the tax once, and only once on all tobacco products for sale in the Commonwealth.
B. No tax shall be imposed pursuant to this section upon tobacco products not within the taxing power of the Commonwealth under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
C. A distributor that calculates and pays the tax pursuant to subdivision A 1 or A 2 in good faith reliance on the net weight listed by the manufacturer on the package or on the manufacturer's invoice shall not be liable for additional tax, or for interest or penalties, solely by reason of a subsequent determination that such weight information was incorrect.
§ 58.1-1021.05. Use of revenues.
The A. Except
as provided in subsection B, the revenues
generated by the taxes imposed under this article shall be collected by the
Department and deposited into the Virginia Health Care Fund established under §
32.1-366.
B. The revenues generated by the taxes under this article that are attributable solely to the increase in the tax rate enacted by the 2012 Session of the General Assembly shall be appropriated each fiscal year as follows: (i) four percent to the Virginia Department of Health for the Virginia state tobacco quitline, (ii) four percent to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to prevent tobacco use, and (iii) the remaining amount to increase the total annual appropriations to localities pursuant to the Personal Property Tax Relief Act in Chapter 35.1 (§ 58.1-3523 et seq.) above the total amount appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.