(a)(1) No person shall sell, offer for sale, display for sale, transport for sale or possess with intent to sell, any cigarettes (A) which do not bear stamps evidencing the payment of the tax imposed by this chapter, or (B) the stamping of which is prohibited by subsection (b) of section 12-302 or subsection (b) of section 12-303, provided a licensed dealer may keep on hand, at the location for which such dealer's license is issued, unstamped cigarettes, other than cigarettes, the stamping of which is prohibited by subsection (b) of section 12-303, for a period not exceeding twenty-four hours. Any unstamped cigarettes in the possession of a licensed dealer shall be presumed to have been held by such dealer for more than twenty-four hours unless proof is shown to the contrary.

(2) Except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, any person who knowingly violates any provision of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be subject to the following penalties: (A) If the violation involves one thousand or fewer unstamped cigarettes, such person shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both; (B) if the violation involves more than one thousand but fewer than twenty thousand unstamped cigarettes, such person shall be fined not more than one dollar per cigarette or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both; and (C) if the violation involves twenty thousand or more unstamped cigarettes, such person shall be fined not more than one dollar fifty cents per cigarette or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.

(3) Any licensed dealer who knowingly violates any provision of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be fined three hundred fifty dollars, provided (A) the quantity of unstamped cigarettes in the possession of such dealer does not exceed one thousand cigarettes, and (B) it is such dealer's first violation of the provisions of this subsection.

(b) Any person, whether or not previously convicted of a violation of any provision of this section, who wilfully attempts to evade the taxes imposed by this chapter or the payment thereof on twenty thousand or more cigarettes, shall be guilty of a class C felony.

(1949 Rev., S. 1986; 1967, P.A. 788, S. 8; P.A. 75-275, S. 1, 2; P.A. 88-314, S. 16, 54; P.A. 99-109, S. 3, 8; P.A. 11-61, S. 63; P.A. 13-258, S. 45; P.A. 18-25, S. 3.)

History: 1967 act imposed minimum fine of $100 for first offense; P.A. 75-275 increased fines for first offense to minimum of $250 and maximum of $1,000 (up from $500) and for subsequent offenses increased minimum fine from $200 to $500 and maximum fine from $2,000 fine to fine and/or one year's imprisonment and added Subsec. (b) re offenses involving 20,000 or more cigarettes; P.A. 88-314 amended the penalty provision for violation of any requirement of this section and added the provision that the violation must occur with knowledge, effective July 1, 1988, and applicable to any tax which first becomes due and payable on or after said date, to any return or report due on or after said date, or in the case of any ongoing obligation imposed in accordance with said act, to the tax period next beginning on or after said date; P.A. 99-109 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to add provisions re cigarettes the stamping of which is prohibited by Sec. 12-302 or 12-303 and to make technical changes, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 11-61 amended Subsec. (a) by designating existing provisions re sale of unstamped cigarettes as Subdiv. (1) and penalty for violation thereof as Subdiv. (2), adding Subdiv. (3) re penalty for licensed dealer's first violation that does not involve more than 600 cigarettes, and making technical changes, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-258 amended Subsec. (b) to change penalty from fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment of not less than 1 year or more than 5 years to a class D felony; P.A. 18-25 amended Subsec. (a) to delete “distributor shall sell, and no other”, add reference to transport for sale and make a technical change in Subdiv. (1), substantially revise provision re penalty for knowing violation, based on number of unstamped cigarettes including adding Subparas. (A) to (C) re violations in Subdiv. (2), and to increase penalty for first violation by licensed dealer from $90 to $350, increase threshold of unstamped cigarettes in dealer's possession from 600 to 1,000, and make a conforming change in Subdiv. (3), and amended Subsec. (b) to delete Subdiv. designators, delete provisions re 20,000 or more unstamped cigarettes, and change penalty from class D felony to class C felony, effective July 1, 2018.

See Sec. 12-315 re authorization for sales of unstamped cigarettes among licensed distributors.