Revise tax rate on cigarettes that are not burned

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69th Legislature 2025 SB 98.1
- 1 - Authorized Print Version – SB 98
1 SENATE BILL NO. 98
2 INTRODUCED BY B. BEARD
3
4 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT REVISING THE TAX RATE ON CIGARETTES THAT ARE
5 INTENDED TO BE HEATED BUT NOT BURNED; AMENDING SECTION 16-11-111, MCA; AND PROVIDING
6 AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE AND AN APPLICABILITY DATE.”
7
8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
9
10Section 1. Section 16-11-111, MCA, is amended to read:
11 "16-11-111. Cigarette, tobacco products, and moist snuff sales tax -- exemption for sale to
12tribal member. (1) (a) (i) A tax on the purchase of cigarettes for consumption, use, or any purpose other than
13 resale in the regular course of business is imposed and must be precollected by the wholesaler and paid to the
14 state of Montana.
15 (ii) The tax is $1.70 on each package containing 20 cigarettes that are intended to be burned.
16 (iii) The tax is 85 cents on each package containing 20 cigarettes that are intended to be heated
17 but not burned.
18 (iv) Whenever packages contain other than 20 cigarettes, there is a tax on each cigarette equal to
19 1/20 one-twentieth of the tax on a package containing 20 cigarettes.
20 (b) The tax computed under subsection (1)(a) applies to illegally packaged cigarettes under 16-11-
21 307.
22 (2) The tax imposed in subsection (1) does not apply to quota cigarettes.
23 (3) Subject to the refund or credit provided in subsection (4), the tax must be precollected on all
24 cigarettes entering a Montana Indian reservation.
25 (4) Pursuant to the procedure provided in subsection (5), a wholesaler making a sale of cigarettes
26 to a retailer within the boundaries of a Montana Indian reservation may apply to the department for a refund or
27 credit for taxes precollected on cigarettes sold by the retailer to a member of the federally recognized Indian
28 tribe or tribes on whose reservation the sale is made. A wholesaler who does not file a claim within 1 year of the
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69th Legislature 2025 SB 98.1
- 2 - Authorized Print Version – SB 98
1 shipment date forfeits the refund or credit.
2 (5) The distribution of tax-free cigarettes to a tribal member must be implemented through a
3 system of preapproved wholesaler shipments. A licensed Montana wholesaler shall contact the department for
4 approval prior to the shipment of the untaxed cigarettes. The department may authorize sales based on
5 whether the quota, as established in a cooperative agreement between the department and an Indian tribe or
6 as set out in this chapter, has been met. If authorized as a tax-exempt sale, the wholesaler, upon providing
7 proof of order and delivery to a retailer within the boundaries of a Montana Indian reservation selling cigarettes
8 to members of a federally recognized tribe or tribes of that reservation, must be given a refund or credit. Once
9 the quota has been filled, the department shall immediately notify all affected wholesalers that further sales on
10 that reservation must be taxed and that a claim for a refund or credit will not be honored for the remainder of
11 the quota period. Quota allocations are not transferable between quota periods or between reservations.
12 (6) The total amount of refunds or credits allowed by the department to all wholesalers claiming the
13 refund or credit under subsection (4) for any month may not exceed an amount that is equal to the tax due on
14 the quota allocation. The department shall determine the amount of refunds or credits for each Indian
15 reservation at the beginning of each fiscal year, using the most recent census data available from the bureau of
16 Indian affairs or as provided in a cooperative agreement with the tribe or tribes of the Indian reservation.
17 (7) There must be collected and paid to the state of Montana a tax of 50% of the wholesale price,
18 to the wholesaler, of all tobacco products other than cigarettes, premium cigars, and moist snuff. The tax on a
19 premium cigar is the lesser of 50% of the wholesale price or 35 cents a premium cigar. The tax on moist snuff is
20 85 cents an ounce based upon on the net weight of the package listed by the manufacturer. For packages of
21 moist snuff that are less than or greater than 1 ounce, the tax must be proportional to the size of the package.
22 Tobacco products shipped from Montana and destined for retail sale and consumption outside the state are not
23 subject to this tax.
24 (8) The tax imposed by subsection (7) must be precollected and paid by a wholesaler to the
25 department upon sale to a Montana retailer. A wholesaler who fails to report or pay the tax required by this part
26 must be assessed penalty and interest as provided in 15-1-216.
27 (9) A retailer who purchases tobacco products for resale on which the tobacco products tax has
28 not been collected and paid to the department shall comply with all the provisions of this part and the rules
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69th Legislature 2025 SB 98.1
- 3 - Authorized Print Version – SB 98
1 adopted to implement this part as if it were a wholesaler.
2 (10) A retailer must shall assume that the tobacco products tax has not been collected and paid to
3 the department in the absence of a statement on the retailer's invoice or sales slip for the tobacco products that
4 states that the applicable Montana tobacco products tax is included in the total billing cost."
5
6 NEW SECTION. Section 2. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
7
8 NEW SECTION. Section 3. Applicability. [This act] applies to cigarettes sold by a wholesaler after
9 June 30, 2025.
10 - END -