Sec. 4.7. (a) A retailer shall produce an invoice or other documentary evidence proving that the retailer obtained cigarettes or a tobacco product (as defined in IC 6-7-2-5) from a distributor that holds a valid registration certificate.

     (b) Each day a retailer fails to produce an invoice or other evidence under subsection (a) constitutes a separate violation of this section.

Terms Used In Indiana Code 24-3-2-4.7

  • Department: shall mean the alcohol and tobacco commission or its duly authorized assistants and employees. See Indiana Code 24-3-2-2
  • Distributor: shall mean and include every person who sells, barters, exchanges, or distributes cigarettes in the state of Indiana to retail dealers for the purpose of resale, or who purchases for resale cigarettes from a manufacturer of cigarettes or from a wholesaler, jobber, or distributor outside the state of Indiana who is not a distributor holding a registration certificate issued under the provisions of IC 6-7-1. See Indiana Code 24-3-2-2
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Registration certificate: refers to the registration certificate issued to cigarette distributors by the department of state revenue under IC 6-7-1-16. See Indiana Code 24-3-2-2
  • Retailer: shall mean every person, other than a distributor, who purchases, sells, offers for sale, or distributes cigarettes to consumers or to any person for any purpose other than resale, irrespective of quantity or amount or the number of sales. See Indiana Code 24-3-2-2
     (c) This subsection applies in addition to or instead of any other civil or criminal penalty. The department or the department of state revenue may impose on a retailer that violates subsection (a) a civil penalty that does not exceed the greater of:

(1) five hundred percent (500%) of the retail value of the cigarettes described in subsection (a); or

(2) five thousand dollars ($5,000);

for each violation.

     (d) In addition to any other penalty described in this section, the department or the department of state revenue may seize the cigarettes or other tobacco products for which the retailer is unable to produce the invoice or documentary evidence described in subsection (a). The seized cigarettes or other tobacco products shall be forfeited to the state and destroyed.

     (e) Civil penalties collected under this chapter shall be deposited as follows:

(1) Seventy percent (70%) to the enforcement and administration fund established under IC 7.1-4-10.

(2) Thirty percent (30%) to the state general fund for the use of the department of state revenue.

As added by P.L.252-2003, SEC.14.

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