1. Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, it is unlawful for any person to have in the person’s possession for sale, distribution, or use, or for any other purpose, in excess of forty cigarettes, or to sell, distribute, use, or present as a gift or prize cigarettes upon which a tax is required to be paid by this subchapter, without having affixed to each individual package of cigarettes, the proper stamp evidencing the payment of the tax and the absence of the stamp on the individual package of cigarettes is notice to all persons that the tax has not been paid and is prima facie evidence of the nonpayment of the tax.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 453A.36

  • Carton: means a box or container of any kind in which ten or more packages or packs of cigarettes or tobacco products are offered for sale, sold, or otherwise distributed to consumers. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Cigarette: means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, or any substitute for tobacco, irrespective of size or shape and irrespective of tobacco or any substitute for tobacco being flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other ingredient, where such roll has a wrapper or cover made of paper or any other material. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Cigarette vending machine: means any self-service device offered for public use which, upon payment or insertion of loose tobacco product, dispenses, or assembles and dispenses, cigarettes or tobacco products. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Cigarette vendor: means any person who by contract, agreement, or ownership takes responsibility for furnishing, installing, servicing, operating, or maintaining one or more cigarette vending machines for the purpose of selling cigarettes at retail. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Distributing agent: shall mean and include every person in this state who acts as an agent of any manufacturer outside of the state by storing cigarettes received in interstate commerce from such manufacturer subject to distribution or delivery to distributors upon orders received by said manufacturer in interstate commerce and transmitted to such distributing agent for fulfillment from such place of storage. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Distributor: shall mean and include every person in this state who manufactures or produces cigarettes or who ships, transports, or imports into this state or in any manner acquires or possesses cigarettes without stamps affixed for the purpose of making a "first sale" of the same within the state. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • 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.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Manufacturer: shall mean and include every person who ships cigarettes into this state from outside the state. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Owner: means any of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 425A.2
  • pack: means a container of any kind in which cigarettes or tobacco products are offered for sale, sold, or otherwise distributed to consumers. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Person: shall mean and include every individual, firm, association, joint stock company, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trustee, agency or receiver, or respective legal representative. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Previously used stamp: shall mean and include any stamp which is used, sold, or possessed for the purpose of sale or use, to evidence the payment of the tax herein imposed on an individual package of cigarettes after said stamp has, anterior to such use, sale, or possession, been used on a previous or separate individual package of cigarettes to evidence the payment of tax as aforesaid. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Retail permit: shall mean and include permits issued to retailers. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Retailer: shall mean and include every person in this state who shall sell, distribute, or offer for sale for consumption or possess for the purpose of sale for consumption, cigarettes, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products irrespective of quantity or amount or the number of sales. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Sale: means any transfer, exchange, or barter, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, for a consideration, and includes and means all sales made by any person. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Stamps: means the stamp or stamps printed, manufactured or made by authority of the director and issued, sold or circulated by the department and by the use of which the tax levied is paid. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • State permit: shall mean and include permits issued by the department to distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • Tobacco products: means cigars; little cigars as defined in section 453A. See Iowa Code 453A.1
  • United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Use: means the exercise of any right or power incidental to the ownership of tobacco products. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Wholesaler: shall mean and include every person other than a distributor or distributing agent who engages in the business of selling or distributing cigarettes within the state, for the purpose of resale. See Iowa Code 453A.1
 2. No person, other than a common carrier and a distributor‘s truck bearing the distributor’s name and permit number in plain view on the outside of such truck, shall transport within this state cigarettes upon which a tax is required to be paid, without having stamps affixed to each individual package of said cigarettes; and no person shall fail or refuse, upon demand of agent of the department, or any peace officer to stop any vehicle transporting cigarettes for a full and complete inspection of the cargo carried.
 3. No person shall use, sell, offer for sale, or possess for the purpose of use or sale, within this state, any previously used stamp or stamps, or attach any such previously used stamps to an individual package of cigarettes, nor shall any person purchase stamps from any person other than the department or sell stamps purchased from the department.
 4. No person shall knowingly use, consume, or smoke, within this state, cigarettes upon which a tax is required to be paid, without said tax having been paid.
 5. No person, unless the person be the holder of a permit, or the holder’s representative, shall solicit the sale of cigarettes, provided that this section shall not prevent solicitation by a nonpermit holder for the sale of cigarettes to any state permit holder.
 6. Any sales of tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, or cigarettes made through a cigarette vending machine are subject to rules and penalties relative to retail sales of tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, and cigarettes provided for in this chapter. Cigarettes shall not be sold through any cigarette vending machine unless the cigarettes have been properly stamped or metered as provided by this subchapter, and in case of violation of this provision, the permit of the dealer authorizing retail sales of cigarettes shall be revoked. Payment of the permit fee as provided in section 453A.13 authorizes a cigarette vendor to sell tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, and cigarettes through vending machines. However, tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, and cigarettes shall not be sold through a vending machine unless the vending machine is located in a place where the retailer ensures that no person younger than twenty-one years of age is present or permitted to enter at any time. Tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, and cigarettes shall not be sold through any cigarette vending machine if such products are placed together with any nontobacco product, other than matches, in the cigarette vending machine. This section does not require a retail permit holder to buy a cigarette vendor’s permit if the retail permit holder is in fact the owner of the cigarette vending machines and the machines are operated in the location described in the retail permit.
 7. a. It shall be unlawful for a person other than a retailer as defined in section 453A.1 or 453A.42 who holds a valid retail permit, as applicable, to sell tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, or cigarettes at retail.

 b. A state permit holder shall not sell or distribute cigarettes at wholesale to any person in the state of Iowa who does not hold a permit authorizing the retail sale of cigarettes or who does not hold a state permit as a manufacturer, distributing agent, wholesaler, or distributor.
 8. It shall be unlawful for a holder of a retail permit to sell or distribute any cigarettes or tobacco products, including but not limited to a single or loose cigarette, that are not contained within a sealed carton, pack, or package as provided by the manufacturer, which carton, pack, or package bears the health warning that is required by federal law.
 9. It is unlawful for a person to ship or import into the state, or to offer for sale, sell, distribute, transport, or possess within this state, cigarettes or tobacco products previously exported from or manufactured for use outside the United States.
 10. a. It is unlawful for a person to ship or import into this state or to offer for sale, sell, distribute, transport, or possess counterfeit cigarettes, knowing such cigarettes are counterfeit cigarettes or having reasonable cause to believe that such cigarettes are counterfeit cigarettes.

 b. For purposes of this subsection and section 453A.32, “counterfeit cigarettes” means cigarettes, packages of cigarettes, cartons of cigarettes or other containers of cigarettes with a label, trademark, service mark, trade name, device, design, or word adopted or used by a cigarette manufacturer to identify its product that is false or used without authority of the cigarette manufacturer.
 11. Violation of this section by the holder of a retailer’s, distributor’s, wholesaler’s, or manufacturer’s permit shall be grounds for the revocation of such permit.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 453A Contents