Chapter 4.22
TOBACCO TAX Revised 7/18
Sections:
4.22.020 Imposition of tobacco tax. Revised 7/18
4.22.050 Failure to submit timely or accurate returns.
4.22.070 Violations a misdemeanor.
4.22.080 Lien for tax, interest and penalty. Revised 7/18
4.22.010 Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
“Cigarette” means a roll for smoking of any size or shape, made wholly or partly of tobacco, whether the tobacco is flavored, adulterated, or mixed with another ingredient, if the wrapper or cover of the roll is made of paper or a material other than tobacco.
“Person” means an individual, company, partnership, joint venture, joint agreement, association, mutual or otherwise, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee or syndicate.
“Retail price” means the price a person pays for a tobacco product, not including any discounts received directly or indirectly from the manufacturer or the seller.
“Sale” means a sale, barter, exchange, and every other manner of transferring the tobacco products.
“Seller” means a person in the city who is engaged in the business of selling tobacco products.
“Tobacco products” means:
1. A cigarette;
2. A cigar;
3. A cheroot;
4. A stogie;
5. A perique;
6. Snuff and snuff flour;
7. Smoking tobacco, including granulated, plug-out, crimp-out, ready-rubbed, and any form of tobacco suitable for smoking in a pipe or cigarette; or
8. Chewing tobacco, including Cavendish, twist, plug, scrap, and tobacco suitable for chewing. (Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))
4.22.020 Imposition of tobacco tax. Revised 7/18
A. The city levies a tax of two dollars per pack on cigarettes sold within the city.
B. The city levies a tax on tobacco products, not including cigarettes, at the rate of twenty percent of the retail price of tobacco products sold to a person within the city. (Ord. 10-2016 §2; Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))
4.22.030 Exemptions.
The tax imposed under this chapter does not apply to:
A. Cigarettes or other tobacco products sold in the city by an exchange, commissary, or ship’s store operated by one of the uniformed services of the United States as defined in 5 U.S.C. Section 2101.
B. Cigarettes or other tobacco products if the United States Constitution, the Alaska Constitution, or other federal or state laws prohibit the levying of the tax on the product by the city. (Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))
4.22.040 Returns.
A. Every seller of cigarettes or other tobacco products shall collect the tax imposed by this chapter from a person buying cigarettes or other tobacco products at the time of the sale of such products.
B. The seller shall submit payment of the amount of tax due with a city tobacco tax return form provided by the city accounting department on or before the end of the month.
C. A seller may not state or advertise to the public or a person buying cigarettes or other tobacco products that the tax or any part of the tax will be assumed by the seller or that the tax will not be added to the price of the cigarettes or other tobacco products or that the tax will be refunded. A seller may not absorb the tax, fail to add the tax or any part of the tax to the receipt of the sale, nor refund any tax or fail to separately state the tax owed on the sale.
D. If a return is not filed timely or the tax is not remitted timely, the seller is delinquent. Interest at the rate of eight percent per year on any delinquent tax from the date of delinquency until paid shall accrue and be collected in the same manner that the delinquent tax is collected. A late filing penalty of twenty-five dollars shall be added to all late returns. In addition, a late payment penalty of five percent per month or any fraction thereof, up to a maximum penalty of twenty-five percent, shall be added to all returns until such tax, penalty and interest thereon have been paid. Penalties and interest shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as the tax is assessed and collected.
E. A seller who fails to file a return or remit the tax on the required due date as required under this chapter may be required by the mayor or his or her designee to file tax returns and remit taxes on a more frequent basis as determined by the mayor or his or her designee.
F. If the tobacco tax is not paid when due, the city may enforce the payment of the tax, penalty and interest by any lawful method, including but not limited to the lien, foreclosure and sale of real or personal property or a civil action against the delinquent taxpayer. (Ord. 2008-08 §§2, 3; Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))
4.22.050 Failure to submit timely or accurate returns.
In the event that any seller fails to submit a return or the seller submits a return that the city believes to be incorrect, the mayor or his or her designee may make an assessment against the seller. The assessment shall be based on an estimate of the tax, penalty and interest due using available information, and shall be prima facie correct for all purposes. (Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))
4.22.060 Records.
In order to facilitate the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, each seller shall maintain and keep for a period of three years after the due date of a tax return under this chapter all tax returns and other records showing the amount of cigarettes and other tobacco products bought and sold, the amount of tax charged on these sales, the amount of any discounts given or received for cigarettes or other tobacco products, and any other information required by the city. The mayor or his or her designee is authorized to examine and inspect the books, records and other documents of any seller in order to carry out the provisions of this chapter. The mayor may issue subpoenas for the appearance of persons and for the production of records. (Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))
4.22.070 Violations a misdemeanor.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))
4.22.080 Lien for tax, interest and penalty. Revised 7/18
The tax, interest and penalty imposed under this chapter shall constitute a lien in favor of the city upon the assets or property of the seller. The lien arises upon delinquency and continues until the liability for the amount is satisfied. The lien is not valid as against a mortgagee, pledgee, purchaser, or judgment creditor until notice of the lien is filed in the office of the recorder in the Utqiaġvik recording district. (Ord. 02-2017 §2(part); Ord. 2007-01 §2(part))