2006 Minnesota Code
Chapters 296 - 299 Excise and Sales Taxes
Chapter 297F Cigarettes and Tobacco Taxes
Section 297F.08 CIGARETTE STAMPS.

297F.08 CIGARETTE STAMPS.
Subdivision 1. Stamp put on by distributor. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
payment of the tax imposed by this chapter must be evidenced by stamps affixed to each package.
Before delivering, or causing to be delivered, a package to any person in this state, a distributor
shall firmly affix to each package of cigarettes appropriate stamps in amounts equal to the tax on
those cigarettes as provided in this chapter.
Subd. 2. Tax due; cigarettes. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the tax
due on the return is based upon actual stamps purchased during the reporting period.
Subd. 3. Time of affixing stamp. In all cases where cigarettes are shipped into this state
by any licensed distributor from outside this state, the appropriate stamps must be affixed to
packages at the time the package enters the state.
Subd. 4. Stamps; design, printing. The commissioner shall adopt the design of two stamps.
One stamp must be designed for application to cigarette packages destined for retail sale on an
Indian reservation which is a party to an agreement under section 270C.19, subdivision 2, and
only to those packages. A second stamp must be designed for all other cigarette packages subject
to the provisions of this chapter. The commissioner shall arrange for the printing of stamps in
such amounts and denominations as the commissioner deems necessary.
Subd. 5. Deposit of proceeds. The commissioner shall use the amounts appropriated by law
to purchase stamps for resale. The commissioner shall charge the purchasers for the costs of the
stamps along with the tax value plus shipping costs. The costs recovered along with shipping
costs must be deposited into the general fund.
Subd. 6. Section 16A.56 superseded. The provisions of this chapter prescribing the powers
and duties of the commissioner with relation to stamps supersede all the provisions of section
16A.56 in conflict.
Subd. 7. Price of stamps. The commissioner shall sell stamps to any person licensed as
a distributor. The commissioner shall not sell stamps to any other person. The commissioner
may prescribe the method of shipment of the stamps to the distributor as well as the quantities
of stamps purchased.
Subd. 8. Sale of stamps. The commissioner may sell stamps on a credit basis under
conditions prescribed by the commissioner. The commissioner shall sell the stamps at a price
which includes the tax after giving effect to the discount provided in subdivision 7. The
commissioner shall recover the actual costs of the stamps from the distributor. The commissioner
shall annually establish the maximum amount of stamps that may be purchased each month.
Subd. 8a. Revolving account. A cigarette tax stamp revolving account is created.
The commissioner shall use the amounts in this fund to purchase stamps for resale. The
commissioner shall charge distributors for the tax value of the stamps they receive along with the
commissioner's cost to purchase the stamps and ship them to the distributor. The stamp purchase
and shipping costs recovered must be credited to the revolving account and are appropriated to
the commissioner for the further purchases and shipping costs. The revolving account is initially
funded by a $40,000 transfer from the Department of Revenue.
Subd. 9. Tax stamping machines. The commissioner shall require any person licensed as
a distributor to stamp packages with a tax stamping machine, approved by the commissioner,
which shall be provided by the distributor. The commissioner shall also supervise and check
the operation of the machines and shall provide for the payment of the tax on any package so
stamped, subject to the discount provided in subdivision 7. If the commissioner finds that a
stamping machine is not affixing a legible stamp on the package, the commissioner may order the
distributor to immediately cease the stamping process until the machine is functioning properly.
Subd. 10. Resale or transfer of stamps prohibited. No distributor shall resell or transfer
any stamps purchased by the distributor from the commissioner. A distributor may transfer
another state's stamped cigarettes to another distributor for the purpose of resale in the other state.
A distributor who has on hand any uncanceled stamps at the time of discontinuing the business
of selling cigarettes may return them to the commissioner and receive a refund of the amount
paid for the stamps. Stamps which have become mutilated or unfit for use, or are affixed to
cigarettes being returned to the manufacturer, or are affixed to packages which, or the contents of
which, have become damaged and unfit for sale, shall be replaced by the commissioner, upon
application by the distributor owning the stamps or cigarettes if an investigation discloses that
the stamps have not evidenced a taxable transaction, after compliance with rules or orders of the
commissioner designed to prevent use of the stamps replaced.
Subd. 11. Railroad or sleeping car company as a distributor. The commissioner may
authorize a railroad or sleeping car company licensed as a distributor to sell cigarettes on its cars
without affixing stamps to the packages, provided that monthly reports and payments of the tax
due subject to the discount in subdivision 7 must be made directly to the commissioner in the
manner and under the terms provided for by the commissioner. Only one distributor's license need
be obtained by each railroad or sleeping car company to permit it to sell cigarettes on any or all
of its cars within the state.
Subd. 12. Cigarettes in interstate commerce. (a) A person may not transport or cause to be
transported from this state cigarettes for sale in another state without first affixing to the cigarettes
the stamp required by the state in which the cigarettes are to be sold or paying any other excise tax
on the cigarettes imposed by the state in which the cigarettes are to be sold.
(b) A person may not affix to cigarettes the stamp required by another state or pay any other
excise tax on the cigarettes imposed by another state if the other state prohibits stamps from
being affixed to the cigarettes, prohibits the payment of any other excise tax on the cigarettes, or
prohibits the sale of the cigarettes.
(c) Not later than 15 days after the end of each calendar quarter, a person who transports
or causes to be transported from this state cigarettes for sale in another state shall submit to
the commissioner a report identifying the quantity and style of each brand of the cigarettes
transported or caused to be transported in the preceding calendar quarter, and the name and
address of each recipient of the cigarettes. This reporting requirement only applies to cigarettes
manufactured by companies that are not original or subsequent participating manufacturers in the
Master Settlement Agreement with other states.
(d) For purposes of this section, "person" has the meaning given in section 297F.01,
subdivision 12 . Person does not include any common or contract carrier, or public warehouse that
is not owned, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly by such person, and does not include a
manufacturer that is an original or subsequent participating manufacturer in the Master Settlement
Agreement with other states.
Subd. 13. Bond. The commissioner may require the furnishing of a corporate surety bond
or a certified check in an amount suitable to guarantee payment of the tax stamps purchased by
a distributor. The bond or certified check may be required when the commissioner determines
that a distributor is (1) delinquent in the filing of any return required under this chapter, or (2)
delinquent in the payment of any uncontested tax liability under this chapter. The distributor shall
furnish the bond or certified check for a period of two years, after which, if the distributor has not
been delinquent in the filing of any returns required under this chapter, or delinquent in the paying
of any tax under this chapter, a bond or certified check is no longer required. The commissioner at
any time may apply the bond or certified check to any unpaid taxes or fees, including interest and
penalties, owed to the department by the distributor.
History: 1997 c 106 art 1 s 8; 1999 c 250 art 1 s 92; 2000 c 490 art 10 s 12-16; 2003 c 127
art 14 s 6,7; 1Sp2003 c 23 s 31; 2005 c 151 art 2 s 17; art 8 s 10,11