CHAPTER 10. Violations [30471. - 30483.]

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC 10.
in effect

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30471. Section 30471.

Any person who fails or refuses to file any report required to be made, or who fails or refuses to furnish a supplemental report or other data required by the board, or who fails or refuses to allow an inspection by the board, pursuant to Section 30435, or who renders a false or fraudulent report is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each offense.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30472. Section 30472.

Any person required to make, render, sign, or verify any report who makes any false or fraudulent report with intent to defeat or evade the determination required by law to be made is guilty of a misdemeanor. He shall for each offense be fined not less than three hundred dollars ($300) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or be imprisoned for not exceeding one year in the county jail, or be subject to both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30473. Section 30473.

Any person who falsely or fraudulently makes, forges, alters, reuses or counterfeits any stamp or meter impression provided for or authorized under this part, or tampers with any metering machine authorized under this part, or causes or procures to be falsely or fraudulently made, forged, altered, reused, or counterfeited, any such stamp or meter impression or knowingly and willfully utters, publishes, passes, or tenders as genuine any such false, forged, altered, reused, or counterfeited stamp or meter impression, for the purpose of evading the tax imposed by this part, is guilty of a felony and subject to imprisonment for two, three, or four years, or to a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or to both fine and imprisonment.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30473.5. Section 30473.5.

(a) Any person who possesses, sells, or offers to sell, or buys or offers to buy, any false, fraudulent, or unaffixed stamps or meter impressions provided for or authorized under this part in a quantity of less than 2,000 is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment not exceeding one year in a county jail, or by both the fine and imprisonment. (b) Any person who possesses, sells, or offers to sell, or buys or offers to buy, any false, fraudulent, or unaffixed stamps or meter impressions provided for or authorized under this part in a quantity of 2,000 or greater, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment not exceeding one year in a county jail, or by both the fine and imprisonment. The court shall order any fines assessed be deposited in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Compliance Fund. (c) For purposes of this section, “unaffixed stamps” means stamps for which the tax has previously been paid by a licensed distributor and previously affixed to a package. “Unaffixed stamps” do not include any unused and unapplied rolls of stamps or loose stamps acquired from the board or its authorized agent and in the possession of a licensed distributor. (d) The board shall destroy any stamps seized under this section.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30474. Section 30474.

(a) Any person who knowingly possesses, or keeps, stores, or retains for the purpose of sale, or sells or offers to sell, any package of cigarettes to which there is not affixed the stamp or meter impression required to be affixed under this part, when those cigarettes have been obtained from any source whatever, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall for each offense be fined an amount not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or be imprisoned for a period not to exceed one year in the county jail, or, at the discretion of the court, be subject to both fine and imprisonment in the county jail. (b) In addition to the fine or sentence, or both, each person convicted under this section shall pay one hundred dollars ($100) for each carton of 200 cigarettes, or portion thereof, if that person knowingly possessed, or kept, stored, or retained for the purpose of sale, or sold or offered for sale in violation of this section, as determined by the court. The court shall direct that 50 percent of the penalty assessed be transmitted to the local prosecuting jurisdiction, to be allocated for costs of prosecution, and 50 percent of the penalty assessed be transmitted to the board. The board may collect the penalty due pursuant to this section in the manner prescribed in Section 30483. (c) This section shall not apply to a licensed distributor that possesses, keeps, stores, or retains cigarettes before the necessary stamp or meter impression is affixed.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30474.1. Section 30474.1.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the sale or possession for sale of counterfeit tobacco products, or the sale or possession for sale of counterfeit cigarettes by a manufacturer, importer, distributor, wholesaler, or retailer shall result in the seizure of the product by the board or any law enforcement agency and shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable as follows: (1) A violation with a total quantity of less than two cartons of cigarettes shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisonment not to exceed one year in a county jail, or both fine and imprisonment, and shall also result in the revocation by the board of the manufacturer, distributor, or wholesale license. (2) A violation with a quantity of two cartons of cigarettes or more shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment not to exceed one year in a county jail, or both fine and imprisonment, and shall also result in the revocation by the board of the manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler license. (b) A court shall consider a defendant’s ability to pay when imposing fines pursuant to this section. (c) For the purposes of this section, counterfeit cigarette and tobacco products include cigarette and tobacco products that have false manufacturing labels, false or fraudulent stamps or meter impressions, or a combination thereof. (d) The board shall seize and destroy any cigarettes or other tobacco products forfeited to the state under this section.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30474.5. Section 30474.5.

(a) This section shall be known as and may be cited as the Black Market Cigarette and Street Corruption Prevention Act. (b) The Legislature finds that the sale of black-market, untaxed cigarettes has resulted in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the state, robbing state health care and programs designed to help children. (c) It is the intent of the Legislature, by enacting the act adding this section, to provide resources to prosecutors and local law enforcement personnel, and to enable local jurisdictions to develop a multiagency task force for the purpose of significantly reducing the sales of black-market cigarettes and creating a deterrent to those sales through the focused investigation and prosecution of sales of black-market cigarettes, and other associated offenses and related crimes. (d) In addition to the fine or sentence, or both, imposed by Section 30474, each person convicted under Section 30474 shall pay one hundred dollars ($100) for each carton of 200 cigarettes, or portion thereof, knowingly possessed, or kept, stored, or retained for the purpose of sale, or sold or offered for sale in violation of Section 30474, as determined by the court. The court shall direct that the penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) assessed under this section shall be transmitted to the Controller for deposit in the Unlawful Sales Reduction Fund, which is hereby created. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys in the fund shall be allocated to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning for the funding of a competitive grant program to be established by the Legislature to award grants to local jurisdictions for the purpose of establishing a multiagency task force, the composition of which shall include prosecutors and local law enforcement personnel and may include state law enforcement personnel, for the purpose of significantly reducing the sales of black-market cigarettes, and creating a deterrent to those sales through the focused investigation and prosecution of sales of black-market cigarettes and other associated offenses and related crimes. No more than 5 percent of the amount transmitted from the penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) assessed under this section may be retained to fund the costs of administering the competitive grant program. (e) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall consult with the State Board of Equalization in the administration of the competitive grant program. (f) (1) The one hundred dollar ($100) penalty for each carton of 200 cigarettes knowingly possessed, or kept, stored, or retained for the purpose of sale, or sold, or offered for sale in violation of Section 30474, as authorized under subdivision (d), shall only be imposed for the period beginning on January 1, 2003, and ending on January 1, 2006. (2) This section shall remain in effect until December 1, 2006, or until all the moneys remaining in the Unlawful Sales Reduction Fund on January 1, 2006, have been appropriated by the Legislature for allocation to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning for funding the competitive grant program established under this section, whichever occurs later.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30475. Section 30475.

(a) Any transporter who transports cigarettes or tobacco products upon the highways, roads or streets of this state without having obtained a permit or without having a permit in the transporting vehicle as prescribed by Section 30431 or without having in the transporting vehicle the invoices, bills of lading or delivery tickets for the cigarettes or tobacco products as prescribed by Section 30432 is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or be imprisoned for not more than one year in the county jail, or be subject to both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. (b) Any transporter who, with intent to defeat or evade or with intent to aid another to defeat or evade the taxes imposed by this part, at any given time transports 40,000 or more cigarettes or tobacco products with a value of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more upon the highways, roads or streets of this state without having obtained a permit or without having a permit in the transporting vehicle as prescribed by Section 30431 or without having in the transporting vehicle the invoices, bills of lading or delivery tickets for the cigarettes or tobacco products as prescribed by Section 30432 shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or in the state prison, or by fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or be subject to both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30476. Section 30476.

Any person in possession or control of, or having access to, a cigarette vending machine who knowingly or willfully places for sale in the vending machine, any cigarettes not contained in packages to which are affixed California tax stamps or meter impressions, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or be imprisoned for not more than one year in the county jail, or be subject to both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30478. Section 30478.

It shall be a misdemeanor for any retailer, as defined in Section 6015, to knowingly purchase cigarettes or tobacco products for resale from any person except a distributor or wholesaler licensed pursuant to this part.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30479. Section 30479.

If any retailer, as defined in Part 1 (commencing with Section 6001) of this division, is convicted under any provision of this part and has any previous conviction within a 10-year period under this part, the State Board of Equalization shall revoke all permits issued to such person under the Sales and Use Tax Law for a period of one year.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30480. Section 30480.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, any person who violates this part with intent to defeat or evade the determination of an amount due required by law to be made is guilty of a felony when the amount of tax liability aggregates twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or more in any 12-consecutive-month period. The determination shall be approved by the executive director or his or her designee. Each offense shall be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) and not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), or imprisonment for 16 months, two years, or three years, or by both the fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30482. Section 30482.

Any person convicted of a crime under this part may be charged the costs of investigation and prosecution at the discretion of the court. All moneys remitted to the board under this part shall be transmitted to the Treasurer who shall deposit it into the State Treasury and credit it to the Cigarette Tax Fund.

Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 30483. Section 30483.

(a) (1) Restitution orders or any other amounts imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction for criminal offenses upon a person or any other entity that are due and payable to the board may be collected by the board in any manner provided by law for collection of a delinquent cigarette and tobacco products tax liability, including, but not limited to, issuance of an order and levy under Article 4 (commencing with Section 706.070) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of Title 9 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure in the manner provided for earnings withholding orders for taxes. (2) Amounts imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction as an order of restitution for criminal offenses shall be treated as final and due and payable to the State of California on the date that amount is established on the records of the board. (b) This part shall apply to amounts collected under this section in the same manner and with the same force and effect and to the full extent as if the language of those laws had been incorporated in full into this section, except to the extent that any provision is either inconsistent with this section or is not relevant to this section. (c) Notwithstanding Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 30361), a refund or credit shall not be allowed for any amounts paid or payments applied under this section. (d) Amounts authorized to be collected pursuant to this section may accrue interest at the greater of the rate applicable to the amounts being collected or the rate provided under Section 6591.5 from and after the date the amounts are established on the records of the board. (e) Amounts authorized to be collected pursuant to this section shall not be subject to any statute of limitations set forth in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 30301). (f) Notwithstanding Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 7150) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, any portion of the amounts authorized to be collected under this section that remain unsatisfied may be collected by the recording of a notice of state tax lien. The board may record or extend a recorded notice of state tax lien at any time until the amount due, including any accrued interest, is paid in full. (g) This section shall apply on and after January 1, 2012, to amounts authorized to be collected pursuant to this section that are due and payable to the board before, on, or after January 1, 2012.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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