2005 California Revenue and Taxation Code Sections 30101-30111 Article 1. Tax on Distributors

30101.  Every distributor shall pay a tax upon his or her
distributions of cigarettes at the rate of one and one-half mills
($0.0015) for the distribution after 4:00 a.m. on July 1, 1959, of
each cigarette until 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1967, at the rate of
three and one-half mills ($0.0035) for the distribution of each
cigarette on and after August 1, 1967, until 12:01 a.m. on October 1,
1967, at the rate of five mills ($0.005) on and after 12:01 a.m. on
October 1, 1967, until 12:01 a.m.  on January 1, 1994, and at the
rate of six mills ($0.006) on and after 12:01 a.m. on January 1,
1994.
30101.7.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to facilitate the collection of all applicable state surtaxes
and sales or use taxes on cigarettes sold to residents of the state.
   (b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), no person may engage in
a retail sale of cigarettes in California unless the sale is a
vendor-assisted, face-to-face sale.
   (c) For the purposes of this section, "face-to-face sale" means a
sale in which the purchaser is in the physical presence of the seller
or the seller's employee or agent at the time of the sale.  A
face-to-face sale does not include any transaction conducted by mail
order, the Internet, telephone, or any other anonymous transaction
method in which the buyer is not in the seller's physical presence or
the physical presence of the seller's employee or agent at the time
of the sale.
   (d) A person may engage in a non-face-to-face sale of cigarettes
to a person in California provided that both of the following
conditions are met:
   (1) The seller has fully complied with all of the requirements of
Chapter 10A (commencing with Section 375) of Title 15 of the United
States Code, otherwise known as the Jenkins Act.
   (2) The seller has fully complied with either of the following
requirements:
   (A) All applicable California taxes on the cigarettes have been
paid.
   (B) The seller includes on the outside of the shipping container
for any cigarettes shipped to a resident in California from any
source in the United States an externally visible and easily legible
notice located on the same side of the shipping container as the
address to which the package is delivered stating as follows:
   "IF THESE CIGARETTES HAVE BEEN SHIPPED TO YOU FROM A SELLER
LOCATED OUTSIDE OF THE STATE IN WHICH YOU RESIDE, THE SELLER HAS
REPORTED PURSUANT TO FEDERAL LAW THE SALE OF THESE CIGARETTES TO YOUR
STATE TAX COLLECTION AGENCY, INCLUDING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS.  YOU
ARE LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL APPLICABLE UNPAID STATE TAXES ON
THESE CIGARETTES."
   (e) The State Board of Equalization shall provide information
relative to a seller's failure or attempt to comply with the Jenkins
Act to the Attorney General.
   (f) The Attorney General or a city attorney, county counsel, or
district attorney may bring a civil action to enforce this section
against any person that violates this section and, in addition to any
other remedies provided by law, the court shall assess a civil
penalty in accordance with the following schedule:
   (1) A civil penalty of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000)
and not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) for the first
violation.
   (2) A civil penalty of not less than two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500) and not more than three thousand five hundred
dollars ($3,500) for the second violation within a five-year period.
   (3) A civil penalty of not less than four thousand dollars
($4,000) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the
third violation within a five-year period.
   (4) A civil penalty of not less than five thousand five hundred
dollars ($5,500) and not more than six thousand five hundred dollars
($6,500) for a fourth violation within a five-year period.
   (5) A civil penalty of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for a fifth
or subsequent violation within a five-year period.
   (g) The Attorney General shall provide an annual report to the
Legislature regarding all actions taken to comply with, and enforce,
the Jenkins Act.
   (h) This section does not prohibit any lawful sale of a tobacco
product that occurs by means of a vending machine.
   (i) Nothing in this section shall relieve the seller of cigarettes
from any other applicable requirement of state law relating to the
sale of cigarettes.
   (j) The provisions of this section are severable.  If any
provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
30102.  (a) The taxes imposed by this part shall not apply to the
sale of cigarettes or tobacco products to either of the following:
   (1) United States Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps or Coast
Guard exchanges and commissaries and Navy or Coast Guard ships'
stores.
   (2) The United States Veterans' Administration.
   (b) This section shall remain in effect only until the first day
of the first calendar month commencing more than 60 days after
existing federal law is amended by Congress to permit state taxation
of sales of cigarettes by or through federal military installations.
30102.5.  The taxes imposed by this part shall not apply to the
distribution of cigarettes or tobacco products that are non-tax-paid
under Chapter 52 of the Internal Revenue Act of 1954 as amended, and
the cigarettes or tobacco products are under internal revenue bond or
customs control.
30103.  The taxes imposed by this part shall not apply to the sale
of cigarettes or tobacco products by the manufacturer to a licensed
distributor.
30103.5.  (a) The tax and surcharge imposed by this part shall not
apply to the sale or transfer of untaxed cigarettes or tobacco
products to a law enforcement agency for use in a criminal
investigation when that sale or transfer is authorized by the board.
   (b) A law enforcement agency authorized by the board to receive or
purchase cigarettes or tobacco products as provided in subdivision
(a) shall not be required to apply for, or obtain, a license as a
distributor pursuant to Section 30140.
   (c) A law enforcement agency making distributions of cigarettes
and tobacco products received or purchased under subdivision (a) is
not required to collect or remit the tax or surcharge imposed by this
part with respect to those authorized distributions.
30104.  The taxes imposed by this part shall not apply to the sale
of cigarettes or tobacco products by a distributor to a common
carrier engaged in interstate or foreign passenger service or to a
person authorized to sell cigarettes or tobacco products on the
facilities of the carrier.  Whenever cigarettes or tobacco products
are sold by distributors to common carriers engaged in interstate or
foreign passenger service for use or sale on facilities of the
carriers, or to persons authorized to sell cigarettes or tobacco
products on those facilities, the tax imposed by Sections 30101,
30123, and 30131.2 shall not be levied with respect to the sales of
the cigarettes or tobacco products by the distributors, but a tax is
hereby levied upon the carriers or upon the persons authorized to
sell cigarettes or tobacco products on the facilities of the
carriers, as the case may be, for the privilege of making sales in
California at the same rate as set forth in Sections 30101, 30123,
and 30131.2.  Those common carriers and authorized persons shall pay
the tax imposed by this section and file reports with the board, as
provided in Section 30186.
30105.  The taxes imposed by this part shall not apply to the sale
of cigarettes or tobacco products by the original importer to a
licensed distributor if the cigarettes or tobacco products are
manufactured outside the United States.
30105.5.  The taxes imposed by this part shall not apply to the sale
or gift of federally tax-free cigarettes or tobacco products when
the cigarettes or tobacco products are delivered directly from the
manufacturer under Internal Revenue bond to a veterans' home of the
State of California or a hospital or domiciliary facility of the
United States Veterans' Administration for gratuitous issue to
veterans receiving hospitalization or domiciliary care.  The tax
shall not be imposed with respect to the use or consumption of such
cigarettes or tobacco products by the institution or by the veteran
patients or domiciliaries.
30106.  The taxes imposed by this part shall not apply to the use or
consumption of untaxed cigarettes transported or brought into this
state in a single lot or shipment of not more than 400 cigarettes by
an individual for his own use or consumption, or of not more than 400
untaxed cigarettes obtained at one time from any of the
instrumentalities listed in Section 30102.
30107.  The taxes resulting from a distribution of cigarettes or
tobacco products within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section
30008 shall be paid by the user or consumer.
30108.  (a) Every distributor engaged in business in this state and
selling or accepting orders for cigarettes or tobacco products with
respect to the sale of which the tax imposed by Sections 30101,
30123, and 30131.2 is inapplicable shall, at the time of making the
sale or accepting the order or, if the purchaser is not then
obligated to pay the tax with respect to his or her distribution of
the cigarettes or tobacco products, at the time the purchaser becomes
so obligated, collect the tax from the purchaser, if the purchaser
is other than a licensed distributor, and shall give to the purchaser
a receipt therefor in the manner and form prescribed by the board.
   (b) Every person engaged in business in this state and making
gifts of untaxed cigarettes or tobacco products as samples with
respect to which the tax imposed by Sections 30101, 30123, and
30131.2 is inapplicable shall, at the time of making the gift or, if
the donee is not then obligated to pay the tax with respect to his or
her distribution of the cigarettes or tobacco products, at the time
the donee becomes so obligated, collect the tax from the donee, if
the donee is other than a licensed distributor, and shall give the
donee a receipt therefor in the manner and form prescribed by the
board.  This section shall not apply to those distributions of
cigarettes or tobacco products which are exempt from tax under
Section 30105.5.
   (c) "Engaged in business in the state" means and includes any of
the following:
   (1) Maintaining, occupying, or using, permanently or temporarily,
directly or indirectly, or through a subsidiary, or agent, by
whatever name called, an office, place of distribution, sales or
sample room or place, warehouse or storage place, or other place of
business.
   (2) Having any representative, agent, salesperson, canvasser or
solicitor operating in this state under the authority of the
distributor or its subsidiary for the purpose of selling, delivering,
or the taking of orders for cigarettes or tobacco products.
   (d) The taxes required to be collected by this section constitute
debts owed by the distributor, or other person required to collect
the taxes, to the state.
30109.  Unless the contrary is established, it shall be presumed
that all cigarettes or tobacco products acquired by a distributor are
untaxed cigarettes or tobacco products, and that all cigarettes or
tobacco products manufactured in this state or transported to this
state, and no longer in the possession of the distributor, have been
distributed.
30110.  Any claim for exemption from tax under this part shall be
made to the board in such manner as the board shall prescribe.
30111.  The taxes imposed by this part are in lieu of all other
state, county, municipal, or district taxes on the privilege of
distributing cigarettes or tobacco products.
   This section does not prohibit the application of Part 1
(commencing with Section 6001), Part 1.5 (commencing with Section
7200), Part 1.6 (commencing with Section 7251), or Article 2
(commencing with Section 37021) of Part 17 to the sale, storage, use
or other consumption of cigarettes or tobacco products.