HF 1199

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to taxation; regulating the transportation of 
  1.3             cigarettes for sale; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  1.4             section 325D.421, subdivision 2, by adding a 
  1.5             subdivision. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 325D.421, is 
  1.8   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 1a.  [CIGARETTES IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE.] (a) A 
  1.10  person may not transport or cause to be transported from this 
  1.11  state cigarettes for sale in another state without first 
  1.12  affixing to the cigarettes the stamp required by the state in 
  1.13  which the cigarettes are to be sold or paying any other excise 
  1.14  tax on the cigarettes imposed by the state in which the 
  1.15  cigarettes are to be sold. 
  1.16     (b) A person may not affix to cigarettes the stamp required 
  1.17  by another state or pay any other excise tax on the cigarettes 
  1.18  imposed by another state if the other state prohibits stamps 
  1.19  from being affixed to the cigarettes, prohibits the payment of 
  1.20  any other excise tax on the cigarettes, or prohibits the sale of 
  1.21  the cigarettes. 
  1.22     (c) Not later than 15 days after the end of each calendar 
  1.23  quarter, a person who transports or causes to be transported 
  1.24  from this state cigarettes for sale in another state shall 
  1.25  submit to the attorney general a report identifying the quantity 
  2.1   and style of each brand of the cigarettes transported or caused 
  2.2   to be transported in the preceding calendar quarter, and the 
  2.3   name and address of each recipient of the cigarettes. 
  2.4      (d) For purposes of this subdivision, "person" has the 
  2.5   meaning given in section 297F.01, subdivision 12, and includes a 
  2.6   common or contract carrier or a public warehouse only if the 
  2.7   carrier or warehouse is owned, in whole or in part, directly or 
  2.8   indirectly, by such a person. 
  2.9      [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  2.10  following final enactment. 
  2.11     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 325D.421, 
  2.12  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.13     Subd. 2.  [PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.] (a) In addition to any 
  2.14  other private remedy provided by law, any person that sustains 
  2.15  economic damages or commercial injury as a result of any 
  2.16  violation of subdivision 1 or 1a may bring an action for 
  2.17  appropriate injunctive or other equitable relief, actual 
  2.18  damages, if any, sustained by reason of the violation, and, as 
  2.19  determined by the court, interest on the damages from the date 
  2.20  of the complaint, taxable costs, and reasonable attorney fees.  
  2.21     (b) If the trier of fact finds that the violation is 
  2.22  egregious, it may increase the recovery to an amount not in 
  2.23  excess of three times the actual damages sustained by reason of 
  2.24  the violation.  The trier of fact may, in addition, award 
  2.25  exemplary damages for violations of subdivision 1, paragraph 
  2.26  (c), equal to the difference between the permitted legal price 
  2.27  and the actual price for the sales. 
  2.28     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  2.29  following final enactment.