I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2824

To revise and reform the Act commonly called the Jenkins Act, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2003

Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin (for himself, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. 

FEENEY, Mr. PENCE, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. CARTER, and Mrs. 

BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To revise and reform the Act commonly called the Jenkins 

Act, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Internet Tobacco Sales 

5 Enforcement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REVISION OF ACT OF OCTOBER 19, 1949. 

7 The Act of October 19, 1949, entitled ‘‘An Act to 

8 assist States in collecting sales and use taxes on ciga9 rettes’’ (15 U.S.C. 375 et seq.) is amended by striking 
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1 ‘‘That for the purposes of this Act’’ and all that follows 

2 through the end of the Act and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Jenkins Act’. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 2. INTERSTATE SALES OF CIGARETTES AND SMOKE6 LESS TOBACCO. 

7 ‘‘(a) COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS.—

8 ‘‘(1) Each person who engages in an interstate 

9 sale of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco or in an 

10 interstate distribution of cigarettes or smokeless to11 bacco shall comply with all the excise, sales, and use 

12 tax laws applicable to the sale or other transfer of 

13 cigarettes or smokeless tobacco in the State and 

14 place in which the cigarettes or smokeless tobacco 

15 are delivered as though the person were physically 

16 located in that State or place. 

17 ‘‘(2) Unless the law of the State and place in 

18 which cigarettes or smokeless tobacco are delivered 

19 pursuant to an interstate sale requires otherwise for 

20 the payment of an excise tax imposed on that sale, 

21 the cigarettes or smokeless tobacco may not be deliv22 ered to the buyer unless in advance of the delivery—

23 ‘‘(A) the excise tax has been paid; and 

24 ‘‘(B) any required stamps or other indicia 

25 that the excise tax has been paid are properly 
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1 affixed or applied to the cigarettes or smokeless 

2 tobacco. 

3 ‘‘(3)(A) Each State may compile a list of inter4 state sellers of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco who 

5 are in compliance with this Act with respect to that 

6 State. If a State posts a list pursuant to this sub7 section, no person may knowingly make an interstate 

8 distribution of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco into 

9 that State other than to a person engaged in the 

10 business of manufacturing, distributing or selling 

11 cigarettes or smokeless tobacco unless the person 

12 initiating or ordering the delivery is on the list at 

13 the time of delivery. 

14 ‘‘(B) Each State may also compile a list of 

15 interstate sellers of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco 

16 who are not in compliance with this Act with respect 

17 to that State. If a State posts a list pursuant to this 

18 subsection, no person make an interstate distribu19 tion of any item into that State for a person on the 

20 list unless—

21 ‘‘(i) the person in good faith determines 

22 that the item does not include cigarettes or 

23 smokeless tobacco; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) the delivery is made to a person en2 gaged in the business of manufacturing, distrib3 uting or selling cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. 

4 ‘‘(b) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING.—Each per5 son who engages in an interstate sale of cigarettes or 

6 smokeless tobacco, or who advertises, or offers to engage 

7 in, such a sale, shall—

8 ‘‘(1) first file with the tobacco tax adminis9 trator of the State and place in which the cigarettes 

10 or smokeless tobacco are to be offered, advertised, or 

11 delivered, a statement setting forth the person’s 

12 name and trade name (if any), and the address of 

13 that person’s principal place of business and any 

14 other place of business, as well as telephone numbers 

15 for each place of business, a principal electronic mail 

16 address, any website addresses, and the name, ad17 dress and telephone number of an agent authorized 

18 to accept service on behalf of that person; 

19 ‘‘(2) not later than the 10th day of each cal20 endar month, file with that tobacco tax adminis21 trator a memorandum or copy of the invoice cov22 ering each and every interstate sale of cigarettes or 

23 smokeless tobacco by the filer into that State or 

24 place, and each interstate distribution of cigarettes 

25 or smokeless tobacco pursuant to that sale, during 
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1 the previous calendar month, and such memorandum 

2 or invoice shall include the name and address of the 

3 person to whom the cigarettes or smokeless tobacco 

4 are delivered, the brand, and the type, the quantity 

5 delivered, and the name, address, and phone number 

6 of the person delivering; and 

7 ‘‘(3) maintain records, including the informa8 tion specified in paragraph (2), for not less than 5 

9 years after the date of an interstate sale of ciga10 rettes or smokeless tobacco and of each interstate 

11 distribution of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco pur12 suant to that sale, and make those records available 

13 for inspection upon the lawful demand of the Attor14 ney General of the United States, an Attorney Gen15 eral of a State, the Commissioner of Internal Rev16 enue, or the chief tax collection official of a State. 

17 ‘‘(c) DEEMING RULE.—For the purposes of this sec18 tion—

19 ‘‘(1) an interstate sale or delivery of cigarettes 

20 or smokeless tobacco shall be deemed to have oc21 curred in the State and place where the buyer ob22 tains personal possession of the cigarettes or smoke23 less tobacco; and 
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1 ‘‘(2) a delivery pursuant to an interstate sale is 

2 deemed to have been initiated or ordered by the sell3 er. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 3. CIVIL ACTION. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other rem6 edies available under other Federal or State or local law, 

7 the Attorney General of a State may in a civil action ob8 tain any appropriate relief, including money damages 

9 where appropriate, against—

10 ‘‘(1) any person who violates, or is about to en11 gage in a violation of, section 2; or 

12 ‘‘(2) any person who knowingly assists or par13 ticipates, or knowingly is about to engage, in such 

14 a violation. 

15 ‘‘(b) NOTICE.—It is the sense of Congress that, if 

16 the Attorney General of a State commences a civil action 

17 under subsection (a), that Attorney General should inform 

18 the Attorney General of the United States, and that the 

19 Attorney General of the United States should make infor20 mation about the case publicly available, through posting 

21 the information on the Internet and through other means. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY. 

23 ‘‘Whoever violates section 2 is subject to a civil pen24 alty not to exceed $5,000 in the case of a first violation, 

25 and not to exceed $10,000 in any other case. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTY. 

2 ‘‘Whoever violates section 2 shall be fined under title 

3 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than 6 

4 months, or both. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 6. NONPREEMPTION. 

6 ‘‘This Act does not limit the remedies provided by 

7 State or Federal law with respect to alleged violations of 

8 State or Federal law relating to a sale or distribution of 

9 cigarettes or smokeless tobacco, in connection with an 

10 interstate sale or distribution of cigarettes or smokeless 

11 tobacco. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

13 ‘‘As used in this Act—

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Attorney General’, with respect 

15 to a State, means the chief law enforcement officer 

16 of that State, or the designee of that officer; 

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘cigarette’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper 

19 or in any substance not containing tobacco 

20 which is to be burned; 

21 ‘‘(B) any roll of tobacco wrapped in any 

22 substance containing tobacco that, because of 

23 its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the 

24 filler, or its packaging or labeling is likely to be 

25 offered to, or purchased by consumers as a cig26 arette described in subparagraph (A); 
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1 ‘‘(C) any roll of tobacco wrapped in any 

2 substance that because of its appearance, the 

3 type of tobacco used in the filler, or its pack4 aging or labeling is likely to be offered to, or 

5 purchased by consumers as a cigarette; or 

6 ‘‘(D) loose rolling tobacco that, because of 

7 its appearance, type, packaging, or labeling, is 

8 likely to be offered to, or purchased by, con9 sumers as tobacco for making cigarettes; 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘smokeless tobacco’ has the 

11 meaning given that term in section 9 of the Com12 prehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act 

13 of 1986 (15 U.S.C. 4408); 

14 ‘‘(4) the term ‘interstate sale of cigarettes or 

15 smokeless tobacco’ means any sale of cigarettes or 

16 smokeless tobacco in interstate or foreign commerce 

17 to a person, other than a person licensed as a dis18 tributor in the State where the cigarettes or smoke19 less tobacco is delivered, in which the buyer is either 

20 not in the seller’s physical presence at the time the 

21 request for purchase is made or not in the seller’s 

22 physical presence at the time the buyer obtains per23 sonal possession of the cigarettes or smokeless to24 bacco; 
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1 ‘‘(5) the term ‘interstate or foreign commerce’ 

2 means commerce between a State and any place out3 side that State, commerce between a State and any 

4 Indian lands in that State, or commerce between 

5 points in the same State but through any place out6 side that State; 

7 ‘‘(6) the term ‘interstate distribution of ciga8 rettes or smokeless tobacco’ means a delivery or 

9 other distribution of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco 

10 pursuant to an interstate sale of cigarettes or 

11 smokeless tobacco; 

12 ‘‘(7) the term ‘State’ means a State of the 

13 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com14 monwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or pos15 session of the United States; 

16 ‘‘(8) the term ‘person’ means an individual, a 

17 corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, 

18 society, joint stock company, an Indian tribal organi19 zation, or an Indian tribal government; 

20 ‘‘(9) the term ‘tribal organization’ has the 

21 meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian 

22 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 

23 (25 U.S.C. 450b); and 

24 ‘‘(10) the term ‘Indian lands’ has the meaning 

25 given that term in section 3 of the Archaeological 
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1 Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 

2 470bb).’’. 

3 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 

5 on the first day of the first month beginning on or after 

6 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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