LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 19, 2001 TO: Honorable Rene Oliveira, Chair, House Committee on Ways & Means FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB2378 by Kuempel (Relating to the cigarette tax.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** The bill would amend Chapter 154 of the Tax Code. Cigarettes reimported into the United States for resale would be subject to all provisions relating to tax stamps. Persons importing cigarettes for sale in Texas would have to submit to the Comptroller, on a monthly basis, copies of customs certificates for those cigarettes. The Comptroller would be directed to distribute cigarette tax stamps that would, by the use of serial numbers or marks, allow the identification of the person applying those tax stamps. Cigarettes not in compliance with federal laws and regulations, as well as those that could not receive a tax stamp under state law, could not be acquired, held, owned, possessed, transported, imported, sold, or distributed in Texas. Such cigarettes would be subject to seizure and forfeiture; such seized and forfeited cigarettes would be destroyed. The bill would reinforce existing laws relating to the importation of cigarettes that had been exported by American manufacturers for foreign markets. Such importation of cigarettes is a violation of federal law. Under current state law, tax stamps cannot be applied to cigarettes that do not comply with federal standards for labels and warnings, are labeled in a fashion indicating they were intended for sale outside the U.S., have packages that have been altered, have been imported into the U.S. in violation of federal law after January 1, 2000, or that violate federal trademark or copyright laws. This bill would take effect September 1, 2001. Local Government Impact No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, SD