HBA-LJP H.B. 2413 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2413 By: Ritter Ways & Means 3/16/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a person who pays a tax for cigarettes or tobacco products is required to securely affix a stamp to each individual package of cigarettes to show payment of the tax and the Comptroller of Public Accounts is required to inspect and audit vendors to ensure that the taxes are being collected. If cigarette or tobacco products cannot be located for taxation, then the comptroller is not able to tax the product and the state may lose revenue. House Bill 2413 limits the areas that tobacco products are stored for the purpose of inspection and audits. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2413 amends the Tax Code to provide that the definition of a "commercial business location" is the entire premise that is occupied by a permit applicant or a person required to hold a permit but does not include where cigarettes or tobacco products are stored or kept in a residence or a unit in a public storage facility. The bill also amends the definition of "common carrier" to mean a motor carrier operating under certificate issued by the United States Department of Transportation that transports cigarettes in which the carrier has no ownership or other pecuniary interest (Secs. 154.001 and 155.001). The bill requires a permit holder to designate in the permit application the permanent place of business the records of the cigarette and tobacco products are kept, if the permit holder's place of business is a vending machine (Secs. 154.209 and 155.110). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.