§11-17-1. Short Title
This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the "Tobacco Products Excise Tax Act."
§11-17-10. Refunds
The commissioner shall redeem any unused or mutilated, but identifiable, stamps that any wholesaler or retail dealer may present for redemption, on written verified requests made by the purchaser, his administrators, executors, successors or assigns, and refund therefor, ninety-five percent of the face value of said stamps, less any discounts allowed on the purchase of […]
§11-17-11. Surety Bonds Required; Release of Surety; New Bond
The Tax Commissioner may require wholesalers, subjobbers or retail dealers to file continuous surety bond in an amount to be fixed by the Tax Commissioner except that the amount shall not be less than $1,000. Upon completion of the filing of a surety bond an annual notice of renewal, only, shall be required thereafter. The […]
§11-17-12. Reports Required; Due Date; Records to Be Kept; Inspection of Records and Stocks; Examination of Witnesses, Summons, etc.
(a) Due date. -– On or before the fifteenth day of each month, manufacturers, importers, common carriers, wholesalers, subjobbers, retail dealers and agents or vending machine operators shall, when required by this article, or the Tax Commissioner, file a report covering the business transacted in the previous month providing any information the commissioner determines necessary […]
§11-17-13. Preservation of Rules
All rules for the cigarette tax act previously promulgated by the commissioner, as provided in this article, article ten of this chapter and article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, remain in effect until they are amended or repealed by the commissioner or superceded by operation of law.
§11-17-17. Enforcement Powers
Any employee or agent of the Tax Commissioner, so designated by the Tax Commissioner, shall have all the lawful powers delegated to members of the department of public safety to enforce the provisions of this article in any county or municipality in this state. Such employee shall execute a bond with security in the sum […]
§11-17-19. Penalty for Failure to File Report When No Tax Due
In the case of any failure to make or file a report when no tax is due, as required by this article on the date prescribed for filing, unless it be shown that the failure was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, there shall be collected a penalty of $25 for […]
§11-17-19a. Criminal Penalties
(a) Misdemeanor penalties. -– If any person commits any act set forth in this subsection, the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $25,000, or imprisoned in a county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined […]
§11-17-19b. Certain Tax-Not-Paid Tobacco Products Declared Contraband
(a) Whenever the commissioner or any of the commissioner's authorized deputies, agents or employees, or any law-enforcement officer in this state, discovers any tobacco products subject to tax, as provided by this article, and upon which the tax has not been paid, as required by this article, the tobacco products shall thereupon be considered to […]
§11-17-19c. Magistrate Courts Have Concurrent Jurisdiction
Magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction with any other courts having jurisdiction for the trial of all misdemeanors arising under this article.
§11-17-2. Definitions
(a) When used in this article, words, terms and phrases defined in subsection (b) of this section, and any variations thereof required by the context, have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except where the context indicates a different meaning is intended. (b) Definitions. — (1) "Cigarette" means:
§11-17-20. Transportation of Unstamped Cigarettes or Tax-Not-Paid Tobacco Products; Forfeitures and Sales of Cigarettes and Equipment
(a) In general. -– Every person who transports tax-not-paid tobacco products upon the public highways, waterways, airways, roads or streets of this state shall have in his or her actual possession invoices or delivery tickets for the tobacco products. (b) Contents of delivery tickets. -– Delivery tickets shall show: (1) The true name and the […]
§11-17-20a. Criminal Penalty for Unlawful Transportation of Tax-Not-Paid Tobacco Products
Any person who transports tax-not-paid tobacco products in violation of section twenty of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $300 nor more than $5,000, or imprisoned in the regional or county jail not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
§11-17-20b. Vending Machines; Presence of Tax-Not-Paid Tobacco Products
(a) If tax-not-paid tobacco products are found in any vending machine, both the tax-not-paid tobacco products and the vending machine are contraband goods within the meaning of article seven, chapter sixty-a of this code, and may be seized by the commissioner, at the discretion of the commissioner, or the commissioner's authorized deputies, agents or employees, […]
§11-17-21. Severability
If any provision of this article or the application thereof shall for any reason be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of said article, but shall be confined in its operation to the provision thereof directly involved in the controversy in […]
§11-17-22. General Procedure and Administration
Each and every provision of the "West Virginia Tax Procedure and Administration Act" set forth in article ten of this chapter shall apply to the tax imposed by this article seventeen with like effect as if said act were applicable only to the tax imposed by this article seventeen and were set forth in extenso […]
§11-17-23. Special Study on Impact of Tax on Tobacco Products Other Than Cigarettes
(a) The Tax Commissioner and the commissioner of the Bureau of Employment Programs shall conduct a study to analyze the impact of the provisions of this article on the manufacturers and distributors of tobacco products other than cigarettes and their employees. This study shall include an analysis of the results of taxation of tobacco products […]
§11-17-3. Levy of Tax; Ratio; Dedication of proceeds.(a) Tax on Cigarettes and Tobacco Products Other Than Cigarettes. — for the Purpose of Providing Revenue for the General Revenue Fund of the State, an Excise Tax Is Hereby Levied and Imposed on Sales of Cigarettes and Tobacco Products Other Than Cigarettes
(b) Tax rate on cigarettes. — Effective May 1, 2003, the excise tax rate levied and imposed on the sale of cigarettes is 55 cents on each twenty cigarettes or in like ratio on any part thereof: Provided, That on and after July 1, 2016, the excise tax rate levied and imposed on the sale […]
§11-17-4. Effect of Rate Changes; Tobacco Products on Hand or in Inventory; Report; Discount
(a) Any cigarette tax stamps on hand or in inventory on the effective date of a rate change, whether affixed to the cigarette package, on hand but not affixed to the cigarette package or stamps purchased to be affixed by a meter, are considered to have been purchased or received on the effective date of […]
§11-17-4a. No Tobacco Products Tax by Municipalities or Other Governmental Subdivisions
No municipality or governmental subdivision shall levy any excise or other tax on any tobacco product, or require cigarettes or other tobacco products to be stamped, or require licenses for sale thereof, other than licenses which may be required in accordance with section four, article twelve of this chapter.