Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1856
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE BUTZ.
4675H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 149.015, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to
cigarette taxes, with a referendum clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 149.015, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as section 149.015, to read as follows:
149.015. 1. Except as pr ovided in subsection 9 of this section, a tax shall be levied
2 upon the sale of cigarettes at an amount equal to eight and one-half mills per cigarette, until
3 such time as the general assembly appropriates an amount equal to twenty-five percent of the
4 net federal reimbursement allowance to the health initiatives fund, then the tax shall be six
5 and one-half mills per cigarette beginning July first of the fiscal year immediately after such
6 appropriation. As used in this section, "net federal reimbursement allowance" shall mean that
7 amount of the federal reimbursement allowance in excess of the amount of state matching
8 funds necessary for the state to make payments required by subsection 1 of section 208.471
9 or , if the payments exceed the amount so required, the actual payments made for the purposes
10 specified in subsection 1 of section 208.471.
11 2. The tax shall be evidenced by stamps which shall be furnished by and purchased
12 from the director or by an impression of the tax by the use of a metering machine when
13 authorized by the director as provided in this chapter , and the stamps or impression shall be
14 securely af fixed to one end of each package in which cigarettes are contained. All cigarettes
15 must be stamped before being sold in this state.
16 3. Cigarette tax stamps shall be purchased only from the director . All stamps shall be
17 purchased by the director in proper denominations, shall contain such appropriate wording as
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 the director may prescribe, and shall be of such design, character , color combinations, color
19 changes, sizes and material as the director may , by rules and regulations, determine to af ford
20 the greatest security to the state. It shall be the duty of the director to manufacture or contract
21 for revenue stamps required by this chapter; provided that if the stamps are contracted for , the
22 manufacturer thereof shall be within the jurisdiction of the criminal and civil courts of this
23 state, unless the stamps cannot be obtained in this state at a fair price or of acceptable quality .
24 If stamps are manufactured outside of the state, the director shall take any precautions which
25 he deems necessary to safeguard the state against forger y and misdelivery of any stamps. The
26 director may require of the manufacturer from whom stamps are purchased a bond in an
27 amount to be determined by him commensurate with the monetary value of the stamps,
28 containing such conditions as he may deem necessary in order to protect the state against loss.
29 4. It shall be the intent of this chapter that the impact of the tax levied hereunder be
30 absorbed by the consumer or user and when the tax is paid by any other person, the payment
31 shall be considered as an advance payment and shall thereafter be added to the price of the
32 cigarettes and recovered from the ultimate consumer or user with the person first selling the
33 cigarettes acting as an agent of the state for the payment and collection of the tax to the state,
34 except that in furtherance of the intent of this chapter no refund of any tax collected and
35 remitted by a retailer upon gross receipts from a sale of cigarettes subject to tax pursuant to
36 this chapter shall be claimed pursuant to chapter 144 for any amount illegally or erroneously
37 overchar ged or overcollected as a result of imposition of sales tax by the retailer upon
38 amounts representing the tax imposed pursuant to this chapter and any such tax shall either be
39 refunded to the person who paid such tax or paid to the director . The director may recoup
40 from any retailer any tax illegally or erroneously overcharg ed or overcollected unless such tax
41 has been refunded to the person who paid such tax.
42 5. In making sales of cigarettes in the state, a wholesaler shall keep a record of the
43 amount of tax on his gross sales. The tax shall be evidenced by appropriate stamps attached
44 to each package of cigarettes sold. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary , no tax
45 stamp need be attached to a package of cigarettes transported in the state between wholesalers
46 or distributors unless and until such package is sold to a retailer or consumer .
47 6. The tax on any cigarettes contained in packages of four , ten, twenty or similar
48 quantities to be used solely for distribution as samples shall be computed on a per cigarette
49 basis at the rate set forth in this section, and payment of the tax shall be remitted to the
50 director at such time and in such manner as he may prescribe.
51 7. The revenue generated by the additional two mills tax imposed ef fective August
52 13, 1982, less any three percent reduction allowed pursuant to the provisions of section
53 149.021, shall be placed in a separate fund entitled "The Fair Share Fund". Such moneys in
HB 1856 2
54 the fair share fund shall be transferred monthly to the state school moneys fund and
55 distributed to the school districts in this state as provided in section 163.031.
56 8. The revenue generated by the additional two mills tax imposed ef fective October 1,
57 1993, less any three percent reduction allowed pursuant to the provisions of section 149.021,
58 shall be deposited in the health initiatives fund created in section 191.831. When the general
59 assembly appropriates an amount equal to twenty-five percent of the net federal
6 0 reimbursement allowance to the health initiatives fund, this subsection shall expire. The
61 additional two mills tax levied pursuant to this section shall not apply to an amount of
62 stamped cigarettes in the possession of licensed wholesalers on October 1, 1993, up to thirty-
63 five percent of the total cigarette sales made by such licensed wholesaler during the six
64 months immediately preceding October 1, 1993.
65 9. (1) Beginning January 1, 2027, in addition to the tax levied on the sale of
66 cigar ettes in subsection 1 of this section, a tax shall be levied upon the sale of cigar ettes
67 at an amount equal to five mills per cigar ette.
68 (2) The reven ue generated by the additional tax imposed under this subsection,
69 less any thr ee per cent r eduction allowed under the prov isions of section 149.021, shall be
70 dispersed in the following amounts:
71 (a) T wenty-thr ee and one-half percen t to be deposited to the credit of the fair
72 shar e fund;
73 (b) T wenty-thr ee and one-half per cent to be deposited in the health initiatives
74 fund cr eated in section 191.831; and
75 (c) Fifty-thr ee per cent to be deposited in the state tr easury to the cr edit of the
76 state school moneys fund.
77 (3) For a period up to six months prior to the effective date of a tax modification
78 under this subsection, licensees shall not be allowed to purch ase stamps in a number
79 gr eater than one hundred ten percen t of the number that were pur chased by such
80 licensee during the same period in the pr eceding year .
Section B. Section A of this act is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state
2 for approval or rejection at an election which is hereby ordered and which shall be held and
3 conducted on T uesday next following the first Monday in November , 2026, under the
4 applicable laws and constitutional provisions of this state for the submission of referendum
5 measures by the general assembly , and this act shall become ef fective when approved by a
6 majority of the votes cast thereon at such election and not otherwise.
✔
HB 1856 3