7-12-5. Affixing stamps.

409 words·~2 min read·/nm/chapter-7-taxation/article-12-cigarette-tax/7-12-5·

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

A. Except as provided in Section 7-12-6 NMSA 1978, all cigarettes shall be placed in packages or containers to which a stamp shall be affixed. Only a distributor with a valid license issued pursuant to the Cigarette Tax Act may purchase or obtain unaffixed tax-exempt stamps, tax-credit stamps or tax stamps. A distributor shall not sell or provide unaffixed stamps to another distributor, manufacturer, export warehouse proprietor or importer with a valid permit pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 5713 or any other person.

B. Stamps shall be affixed by the distributor to each package of cigarettes to be sold or distributed in New Mexico within thirty days of receipt of those packages.

C. A distributor shall apply stamps only to packages of cigarettes that the distributor has received directly from another distributor or from a manufacturer or importer of cigarettes that possesses a valid and current permit pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 5713.

D. A distributor shall not affix a stamp to a package of cigarettes of a manufacturer or a brand family that is not included in the directory or sell, offer or possess for sale cigarettes of a manufacturer or brand family that is not included in the directory.

E. Packages shall contain cigarettes in lots of five, ten, twenty or twenty-five.

F. Unless the requirements of this section are waived pursuant to Section 7-12-6 NMSA 1978, a tax stamp shall be affixed to each package of cigarettes subject to the cigarette tax, a tax-credit stamp shall be affixed to each package of cigarettes subject to a qualifying tribal cigarette tax, and a tax-exempt stamp shall be affixed to each package of cigarettes not subject to the cigarette tax pursuant to Section 7-12-4 NMSA 1978.

G. A tax-exempt stamp or tax-credit stamp is not an excise tax stamp for purposes of determining units sold pursuant to Section 6-4-12 NMSA 1978.

H. Stamps shall be affixed inside the boundaries of New Mexico, unless the department has granted a license allowing a person to affix stamps outside New Mexico.

History: Laws 1943, ch. 95, § 3; 1941 Comp. Supp., § 76-1603; Laws 1949, ch. 180, § 3; 1953 Comp., § 72-14-3; reenacted as 1953 Comp., § 72-14-5 by Laws 1971, ch. 77, § 5; 1984, ch. 51, § 2; 1988, ch. 95, § 4; 2001, ch. 175, § 1; 2006, ch. 91, § 4; 2007, ch. 182, § 3; 2009, ch. 197, § 12; 2010 (2nd S.S.), ch. 5, § 8.