2019 Montana Code Annotated
Title 16. Alcohol and Tobacco
Chapter 1. Administration and Taxation
Part 4. Taxation of Alcoholic Beverages
16-1-411. Tax on wine and hard cider -- penalty and interest

16-1-411. Tax on wine and hard cider -- penalty and interest. (1) (a) A tax of 27 cents per liter is imposed on sacramental wine and table wine, except hard cider, imported by a table wine distributor and on table wine shipped directly to consumers or licensed retailers by a winery registered or licensed pursuant to 16-4-107.

(b) A tax of 3.7 cents per liter is imposed on hard cider imported by a table wine distributor and on hard cider shipped directly to licensed retailers by a winery licensed pursuant to 16-4-107.

(2) The tax imposed in subsection (1) must be paid as follows:

(a) A winery registered pursuant to 16-4-107 that sells more than 1,000 liters of sacramental wine, table wine, or hard cider, in any combination, to consumers in the state during a period beginning October 1 and ending September 30 shall electronically file a wine tax return or a hard cider tax return, or both, and pay the tax on a monthly basis on or before the 15th day of each month during the following period that begins October 1 and ends September 30.

(b) A winery registered pursuant to 16-4-107 that sells 1,000 liters or less of sacramental wine, table wine, or hard cider, in any combination, to consumers in the state during a period beginning October 1 and ending September 30 shall electronically file a wine tax return or a hard cider tax return, or both, and pay the tax on or before October 15 of the following period that begins October 1 and ends September 30.

(c) A winery licensed pursuant to 16-4-107 that sells sacramental wine, table wine, or hard cider to consumers or licensed retailers in the state shall electronically file a wine tax return or a hard cider tax return, or both, and pay the tax on a monthly basis on or before the 15th of each month for sales in the previous month.

(d) A table wine distributor that sells sacramental wine, table wine, or hard cider in the state shall electronically file a wine tax return or a hard cider tax return, or both, and pay the tax on a monthly basis on or before the 15th day of each month for sales in the previous month.

(3) Failure to electronically file a tax return or failure to pay the tax required by this section subjects the winery or the table wine distributor to the penalties and interest provided for in 15-1-216.

(4) The tax paid by a winery or by a table wine distributor in accordance with subsection (2) must, in accordance with the provisions of 17-2-124, be distributed as follows:

(a) 69% to the state general fund; and

(b) 31% to the state special revenue fund to the credit of the department of public health and human services for the treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention of alcoholism and chemical dependency.

(5) The tax computed and paid in accordance with this section is the only tax imposed by the state or any of its subdivisions, including cities and towns.

(6) For purposes of this section, "table wine" has the meaning assigned in 16-1-106, but does not include hard cider.

History: En. Sec. 9, I.M. No. 81, app. Nov. 7, 1978; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 699, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 219, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 241, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 277, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 703, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 721, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 262, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 24, Ch. 15, Sp. L. July 1992; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 60, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 25, Ch. 455, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 28, Ch. 18, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 53, Ch. 546, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 399, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 49, Ch. 427, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 470, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 106, Ch. 574, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 475, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 115, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 184, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 29, L. 2019.