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House Bill 11 |
House Author: Cook et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-11 |
Senate Sponsor: Eltife |
House Bill 11 amends the Tax Code to expand the application of provisions requiring reports to be filed with the comptroller of public accounts by persons involved in the manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverages by extending existing reporting requirements applicable to wholesalers and distributors of beer, wine, and malt liquor and making them applicable also to brewers, manufacturers, and package store local distributors, requiring all such entities to file with the comptroller a monthly report of alcoholic beverage sales to retailers in Texas.
The bill expands the content requirement for each monthly report to include information such as separate line items for the number of units of alcoholic beverages, the individual container size and pack of each unit, the brand name, the type of beverage, the universal product code of the alcoholic beverage, and the net selling price of the alcoholic beverage. The bill retains a requirement that the report be filed electronically but authorizes the comptroller to postpone the electronic reporting requirement should it pose an undue hardship to a particular entity. The bill authorizes the comptroller to adopt rules to implement the bill's provisions.
The bill applies only to a manufacturer whose annual production of beer in Texas does not exceed 75,000 barrels and to a brewer whose annual production of malt liquor in Texas, together with the annual production of beer at the same premises by the holder of a manufacturer's license, does not exceed 75,000 barrels.
In addition to the payment of a civil or criminal penalty imposed by the comptroller for failure to file a complete report as required, the bill requires a brewer, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or package store local distributor to pay the state a civil penalty of not less than $25 or more than $2,000 for each day a violation continues if the brewer, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or package store local distributor violates these statutory provisions or a rule adopted to administer or enforce such provisions.
The bill authorizes the comptroller to verify a brewer's, manufacturer's, wholesaler's, distributor's, or package store local distributor's compliance with these provisions and to bring an action to enforce the provisions and obtain any authorized civil remedy for a violation. The bill requires the attorney general to prosecute the action on the comptroller's behalf and establishes venue for such an action in the district courts of Travis County.
The bill requires the comptroller to disclose information to a person regarding net sales by quantity, brand, and size that is submitted in a report of alcoholic beverage sales to state retailers if the person requesting the information holds a permit or license under certain provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Code and the request relates only to information regarding the sale of a product distributed by the person making the request. Such a disclosure is not considered a disclosure of competitively sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information.