§ 494 — Registration and renewal

§ 494. Registration and renewal. (a) (1) Every distributor on whom tax\nis imposed under this article and every person who sells adult-use\ncannabis products at retail must file with the commissioner a properly\ncompleted application for a certificate of registration and obtain such\ncertificate before engaging in business, provided, however, this section\nshall not apply to a natural person engaged in lawful activity\npertaining to personal use or personal cultivation pursuant to article\ntwo hundred twenty-two of the penal law. An application for a\ncertificate of registration must be submitted electronically, on a form\nprescribed by the commissioner, and must be accompanied by a\nnon-refundable application fee of six hundred dollars. A certificate of\nregistration shall not be assignable or transferable and shall be\ndestroyed immediately upon such person ceasing to do business as\nspecified in such certificate, or in the event that such business never\ncommenced.\n (2) Provided, however, that the commissioner shall refund or credit an\napplication fee paid with respect to the registration of an adult-use\ncannabis business in this state if, prior to the beginning of the period\nwith respect to which such registration relates, the certificate of\nregistration described in paragraph one of this subdivision is returned\nto the department or, if such certificate has been destroyed, the\noperator of such business satisfactorily accounts to the commissioner\nfor the missing certificate, but such business may not sell adult-use\ncannabis products in this state during such period, unless it is\nre-registered. Such refund or credit shall be deemed a refund of tax\npaid in error, provided, however, no interest shall be allowed or paid\non any such refund.\n (b) (1) The commissioner shall refuse to issue a certificate of\nregistration to any applicant and shall revoke the certificate of\nregistration of any such person who does not possess a valid license\nfrom the office of cannabis management.\n (2) The commissioner may refuse to issue a certificate of registration\nto any applicant where such applicant:\n (i) has a past-due liability as that term is defined in section one\nhundred seventy-one-v of this chapter;\n (ii) has had a certificate of registration under this article, a\nlicense from the office of cannabis management, or any license or\nregistration provided for in this chapter revoked or suspended where\nsuch revocation or suspension was in effect on the date the application\nwas filed or ended within one year from the date on which such\napplication was filed;\n (iii) has been convicted of a crime provided for in this chapter\nwithin one year from the date on which such application was filed or the\ncertificate was issued, as applicable;\n (iv) willfully fails to file a report or return required by this\narticle;\n (v) willfully files, causes to be filed, gives or causes to be given a\nreport, return, certificate or affidavit required by this article which\nis false;\n (vi) willfully fails to collect or truthfully account for or pay over\nany tax imposed by this article;\n (vii) has been determined to have possessed illicit cannabis within\none year from the date on which such application was filed;\n (viii) is a distributor that has been determined to have knowingly\nsold adult-use cannabis products to any person who sells adult-use\ncannabis products at retail and who is not registered under this\nsection, or whose registration has been suspended or revoked; or\n (ix) has a place of business at the same premises as that of a\ndistributor upon whom tax is imposed under this article, or person who\nsells adult-use cannabis products at retail, whose registration has been\nrevoked and where such revocation is still in effect, unless the\napplicant provides the commissioner with adequate documentation\ndemonstrating that such applicant acquired the premises or business\nthrough an arm's length transaction as defined in paragraph (e) of\nsubdivision one of section four hundred eighty-a of this chapter and\nthat the sale or lease was not conducted, in whole or in part, for the\npurpose of permitting the original registrant to avoid the effect of the\nprevious revocation for the same premises.\n (3) The commissioner may revoke the certificate of registration issued\nto any person who:\n (i) has had any license or registration provided for in this chapter\nrevoked or suspended;\n (ii) has been convicted of a crime provided for in this chapter where\nsuch conviction occurred not more than one year prior to the date of\nrevocation;\n (iii) willfully fails to file a report or return required by this\narticle;\n (iv) willfully files, causes to be filed, gives or causes to be given\na report, return, certificate or affidavit required by this article\nwhich is false;\n (v) willfully fails to collect or truthfully account for or pay over\nany tax imposed by this article; or\n (vi) is a distributor that has been determined to have knowingly sold\nadult-use cannabis products to any person who sells adult-use cannabis\nproducts at retail and who is not registered under this section, or\nwhose registration has been suspended or revoked.\n (4) In addition to the grounds for revocation in this subdivision,\nwhere a person who holds a certificate of registration is determined to\nhave possessed or sold illicit cannabis:\n (1) such registration may be revoked (i) for a period of up to one\nyear for the first such possession or sale by such person;\n (ii) for a period of up to three years for a second such possession or\nsale within a period of five years by such person; and\n (iii) for a period of up to five years for a third such possession or\nsale within a period of five years by such person. A certificate of\nregistration may be revoked pursuant to this paragraph immediately upon\nsuch person's receipt of written notice of revocation from the\ncommissioner.\n A person who is notified of a revocation of their certificate of\nregistration pursuant to this paragraph shall have the right to have the\nrevocation reviewed by the commissioner or their designee by contacting\nthe department at a telephone number or an address to be disclosed in\nthe notice of revocation within ten days of such person's receipt of\nsuch notification. Such person may present written evidence or argument\nin support of their defense to the revocation or may appear at a\nscheduled conference with the commissioner or their designee to present\noral arguments and written and oral evidence in support of such defense.\nThe commissioner or their designee is authorized to delay the effective\ndate of the revocation to enable such person to present further evidence\nor arguments in connection with the revocation. The commissioner or\ntheir designee shall cancel the revocation of the certificate of\nregistration if the commissioner or their designee is not satisfied by a\npreponderance of the evidence that a basis for revocation pursuant to\nthis paragraph exists. An order of revocation of a certificate of\nregistration under this paragraph shall not be reviewable by the\ndivision of tax appeals but may be reviewed pursuant to article\nseventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules by a proceeding\ncommenced in the supreme court within four months of the revocation\npetitioning that the order of revocation be enjoined or set aside. Such\nproceeding shall be instituted in the county where the commissioner has\ntheir principal office. Upon the filing of such petition the court shall\nhave jurisdiction to set aside such order of revocation, in whole or in\npart, or to dismiss the petition. The jurisdiction of the supreme court\nshall be exclusive and its order dismissing the petition or enjoining or\nsetting aside such order, in whole or in part, shall be final, subject\nto review by the appellate division of the supreme court and the court\nof appeals in the same manner and form and with the same effect as\nprovided by law for appeals from a judgment in a special proceeding. All\nsuch proceedings shall be heard and determined by the court and by any\nappellate court as expeditiously as possible and with lawful precedence\nover other civil matters. All such proceedings for review shall be heard\non the petition, transcript and other papers, and on appeal shall be\nheard on the record, without requirement of printing.\n (c) Where a person that does not possess a certificate of registration\nunder this section has been determined to have possessed or sold any\nadult-use cannabis product or illicit cannabis:\n (1) The commissioner may revoke a certificate of authority issued to\nsuch person pursuant to section eleven hundred thirty-four of this\nchapter for a place of business where such person has been determined to\nhave possessed for sale or to have sold adult-use cannabis product or\nillicit cannabis three or more times within a period of five years\nwithout a certificate of registration.\n (2) The commissioner may refuse to issue a certificate of authority\nunder section eleven hundred thirty-four of this chapter to a\ndistributor upon whom tax is imposed under this article, or a person who\nsells adult-use cannabis products at retail, who has a place of business\nat the same premises as that of a person whose certificate of authority\nhas been revoked pursuant to paragraph one of this subdivision and where\nsuch revocation is still in effect, unless the applicant provides the\ncommissioner with adequate documentation demonstrating that such\napplicant acquired the premises or business through an arm's length\ntransaction as defined in paragraph (e) of subdivision one of section\nfour hundred eighty-a of this chapter and that the sale or lease was not\nconducted, in whole or in part, for the purpose of permitting the\noriginal registrant to avoid the effect of the previous revocation for\nthe same premises.\n (d) A certificate of registration shall be valid for the period\nspecified thereon, unless earlier suspended or revoked. Upon the\nexpiration of the term stated on a certificate of registration, such\ncertificate shall be null and void.\n (e) Every holder of a certificate of registration must notify the\ncommissioner of changes to any of the information stated on the\ncertificate, or of changes to any information contained in the\napplication for the certificate of registration. Such notification must\nbe made on or before the last day of the month in which a change occurs\nand must be made electronically on a form prescribed by the\ncommissioner.\n (f) Every holder of a certificate of registration under this article\nshall be required to reapply prior to such certificate's expiration,\nduring a reapplication period established by the commissioner. Such\nreapplication period shall not occur more frequently than every two\nyears. Such reapplication shall be subject to the same requirements and\nconditions as an initial application, including grounds for refusal and\nthe payment of the application fee.\n (g) Any person who is required to obtain a certificate of registration\nunder subdivision (a) of this section who possesses adult-use cannabis\nproducts without such certificate shall be subject to a penalty of up to\nseven thousand five hundred dollars for a first violation and up to\nfifteen thousand dollars for a second or subsequent violation within\nthree years following a prior violation. Any such adult-use cannabis\nproduct shall be subject to immediate forfeiture to, and seizure by, the\ncommissioner or their duly authorized representatives, or the duly\nauthorized representatives of the office of cannabis management.\n (h) No distributor on whom tax is imposed under this article shall\nsell any adult-use cannabis product to any person who sells adult-use\ncannabis products at retail and who is not registered under this\nsection, or whose registration has been suspended or revoked.\n