§ 485 — Determination of cost of agent, retail dealer or wholesale dealer

§ 485. Determination of cost of agent, retail dealer or wholesale\ndealer. (a) 1. In determining "cost of the retail dealer", "cost of the\nagent" and "cost of the wholesale dealer" the tax commission or a court\nshall receive and consider as bearing on the bona fides of such cost,\nevidence tending to show that any such person complained against under\nany of the provisions of this article purchased cigarettes, with respect\nto the sale of which complaint is made, at a fictitious price, or upon\nterms, or in such a manner, or under such invoices, as to conceal the\ntrue costs, discounts or terms of purchase, and shall also receive and\nconsider as bearing on the bona fides of such cost, evidence of the\nnormal, customary and prevailing terms and discounts in connection with\nother sales of a similar nature in the trade area or state.\n 2. Merchandise given gratis or payment made to an agent, retail dealer\nor wholesale dealer by the manufacturer thereof for display, or\nadvertising, or promotion purposes, or otherwise, shall not be\nconsidered in determining the cost of cigarettes to the agent, retail\ndealer or wholesale dealer.\n (b) In all advertisements, offers for sale or sales involving two or\nmore items, at least one of which items is cigarettes, at a combined\nprice, and in all advertisements, offers for sale, or sales involving\nthe giving of any gift or concession of any kind whatsoever (whether it\nbe coupons or otherwise), the agent's, retail dealer's or wholesale\ndealer's combined selling price shall not be below the cost of the\nagent, the cost of the retail dealer or the cost of the wholesale\ndealer, respectively, of the total costs of all articles, products,\ncommodities, gifts and concessions included in such transactions.\n (c) When one wholesale dealer sells cigarettes to any other wholesale\ndealer, the former shall not be required to include in his selling price\nto the latter, the cost of the wholesale dealer, as defined by paragraph\ntwo of subdivision (b) of section four hundred eighty-three of this\narticle, except that no such sale shall be made at a price less than the\ncost of the agent for sales to wholesale dealers as defined by paragraph\none of subdivision (b) of section four hundred eighty-three of this\narticle, but the latter wholesale dealer, upon resale to a retail\ndealer, shall be deemed to be the wholesale dealer governed by the\nprovisions of paragraph two of subdivision (b) of section four hundred\neighty-three of this article.\n (d) When one agent sells cigarettes to any other agent, the former\nshall not be required to include in his selling price to the latter, the\ncost of the agent, as defined by paragraph one of subdivision (b) of\nsection four hundred eighty-three of this article, except that no such\nsale shall be made at a price less than the basic cost of cigarettes, as\ndefined by paragraph one of subdivision (a) of section four hundred\neighty-three, but the latter agent, upon resale of such cigarettes,\nshall be deemed to be the agent governed by paragraph one of subdivision\n(b) of section four hundred eighty-three of this article. Cigarettes\nsold by an agent to an agent must be picked up at the warehouse of the\nselling agent, or delivered to the warehouse of the purchasing agent.\n