cigarettes: means and includes all rolled, shredded, or cut tobacco, or any substitute therefor, wrapped in paper, or substitute therefor, and all rolled, shredded or cut tobacco, or any substitute therefor, wrapped in homogenized tobacco wrapper, and being within customary cigarette sizes and marketed in cigarette type packages. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1001
Consumer: includes any person, including a cigarette retailer or licensed distributor, who purchases cigarettes for personal consumption. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1001
Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
Delivery service: means any person who is engaged in the commercial delivery of letters, packages, or other containers and is not a seller, dealer or distributor. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1001
Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
Person: means and includes every individual, firm, association, joint-stock company, syndicate and corporation. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1001
Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
Sales: means all gross receipts of the taxpayer not allocated under this part. See Tennessee Code 67-4-2004
Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
Stamp: means the impression, device, stamp, label or print manufactured, printed or made as prescribed by the commissioner. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1001
State: means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States and any foreign country or political subdivision thereof. See Tennessee Code 67-4-2004
Wholesale dealer and jobber: means any person who maintains wholesale facilities in one (1) or more permanent locations, and engages in the business of receiving, storing, purchasing, selling at wholesale only, importing unstamped tobacco products, and otherwise handling tobacco products for resale at a wholesale price only to other licensed wholesale dealers and jobbers, or tobacco distributors or retail dealers as defined in this section, but does not sell tobacco products directly to the ultimate consumer. See Tennessee Code 67-4-1001
(1) “Cigarette” has the same meaning as in § 47-31-102; and (2) “Person” means and includes every individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, joint-stock company, state, political subdivision, Native American tribe, tribal government or subdivision, or any other entity, group, or syndicate.(b) Except for sales to licensed wholesale dealers and jobbers, it is unlawful for any person to cause cigarettes either ordered by or through or purchased by or through the mail, a delivery service, the internet, telephone, or some other electronic method to be shipped or transported to any person in this state without such products having the appropriate Tennessee tax paid by a licensed wholesale dealer and jobber pursuant to the rates set forth in §§ 67-4-1004 and 67-4-1005.(c) After becoming a licensed wholesale dealer and jobber pursuant to § 67-4-1015, the wholesale dealer and jobber may sell cigarettes to state retail dealers after applying the appropriate tax stamp to all packs of cigarettes sold, and after paying the appropriate tobacco tax on roll your own tobacco products.(d) It is unlawful for a wholesale dealer and jobber or a distributor to sell cigarettes directly to a consumer located within the state.(e) Retail dealers may receive and sell directly to state consumers cigarettes, including roll your own tobacco products, provided that a wholesale dealer and jobber has paid the Tennessee tobacco tax on the products.(f) In addition to any act that may be taken by the commissioner to enforce this section, the attorney general and reporter may bring an action to prevent or restrain violations of this section by any person, or any person controlling such person. Such action may be brought in Davidson County circuit or chancery court or any competent jurisdiction in the county where the alleged violation of this part took place or is about to take place, or in a county in which such person resides, conducts, transacts or has transacted business, or in the county in which such person can be found.(g) In addition to other remedies available pursuant to law, regulation, or rule, the attorney general and reporter may also seek the following:
(1) Orders and statutory injunctions to prevent violations of this section. Such orders and injunctions shall be issued without bond being given by the state, and shall be statutory injunctions requiring a substantial showing that the nonmoving party is violating or has violated this section. In seeking such orders and injunctions, the attorney general and reporter is not required to show a likelihood of irreparable harm;(2) An order temporarily or permanently revoking a license or certificate authorizing the person to engage in business in this state;(3) A civil penalty of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation of this section. For purposes of this subdivision (g)(3), each shipment or transport of cigarettes constitutes a separate violation; or (4) A civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each and every knowing violation of the terms of an injunction or order issued under this section.(h) When considering the amount of civil penalties to be awarded under this section, the court should give weight and consideration to the following factors:
(1) Whether the violation is intentional;(2) The good or bad faith of the violator;(3) Whether the person engaged in the prohibited act has violated any laws, regulations or rules relating to tobacco;(4) The violator’s ability to pay;(5) The amount, number, volume, weight, cost, or other measure of cigarettes involved in the violation;(6) The number of packages or mailings involved in the violation; (7) Whether the violation is an isolated act or part of a sequence or series of violations;(8) The potential injury to the public;(9) The public’s interest in eliminating the benefits derived by the violators from the violations; and(10) The need to deter future violations. (i) In any successful action initiated by the attorney general and reporter, the court shall order reimbursement to the attorney general and reporter for the reasonable costs and expenses of investigation and prosecution of actions under this section, including attorneys’ fees.(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to directly or indirectly modify or amend any aspect of any provisions of the Tennessee Tobacco Manufacturers Escrow Fund Act of 1999, compiled in title 47, chapter 31, the related provisions regarding the tobacco settlement funds, compiled in part 26 of this chapter, or any provisions related to civil penalties not contained in this section.(k) Unless otherwise expressly provided herein, the remedies and penalties provided by this section are cumulative and supplemental to each other and to the remedies and penalties available under any other laws, regulations or rules.
