§ 6-7-1-24 — Sale or possession of cigarettes without payment of tax or stamps affixed; seizure; forfeiture; redemption penalty; offenses; exceptions

Indiana § 6-7-1-24

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 7: TOBACCO TAXES
• Ch. 1: Cigarette Tax

Text

(a) Whenever the department discovers any
cigarettes which are subject to tax under this chapter and upon which
the tax has not been paid or the stamps affixed as required, it may seize
and take possession of the cigarettes together with any vending
machine or receptacle in which they are held for sale. The seized
cigarettes, vending machine, or receptacle, not including money
contained in the vending machine or receptacle, shall be forfeited to the
state. The department may, within a reasonable time after the seizure:
(1) sell the forfeited cigarettes and vending machines or
receptacles at public auction, but the department shall require the
purchaser to affix the proper amount of the stamps to the
cigarettes upon delivery to the purchaser;
(2) permit the person from whom the cigarettes were seized to
redeem the cigarettes and any vending machine or receptacle
seized therewith, by the payment of the tax due together with a
penalty of fifty percent (50%) and the costs incurred in the
proceeding; or
(3) destroy the confiscated cigarettes and vending machine or
receptacle.
(b) The confiscation, destruction, sale, or redemption of cigarettes
does not relieve any person of criminal penalties imposed for violation
of this chapter.
(c) Any person who sells or holds for sale any packages of cigarettes
not bearing Indiana tax stamps commits a Class A misdemeanor. This
subsection does not apply to distributors or to employees of the
department who are performing their official duties.
(d) The possession of more than one thousand five hundred (1,500)
cigarettes in packages not bearing Indiana tax stamps by any person
other than a distributor, a common carrier, or an employee of the state
or federal government performing the employee's official duties in the
enforcement of this chapter constitutes prima facie evidence that the
cigarettes are possessed for the purpose of sale.
(e) A person who knowingly possesses more than twelve thousand
(12,000) cigarettes not bearing Indiana tax stamps and who has
previously been convicted of a misdemeanor for possession or sale of
unstamped cigarettes commits a Level 6 felony.
Formerly: Acts 1947, c.222, s.23; Acts 1969, c.324, s.2. As
amended by Acts 1978, P.L.2, SEC.648; Acts 1980, P.L.60, SEC.5;
P.L.71-1993, SEC.14; P.L.158-2013, SEC.102.