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2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 15 - Application of Act to Unusual Sales

Section 15. The provisions of sections thirteen to twenty-one, inclusive, shall not apply to sales at retail or sales at wholesale made:—(a) in an isolated transaction and not in the usual course of business; (b) where cigarettes are advertised, offered for sale or sold in bona fide clearance sales for the purpose of discontinuing trade in such cigarettes and said advertising, offer to sell or sale shall state the reason therefor and the quantity of such cigarettes advertised, offered for sale or to be sold; (c) where cigarettes are advertised, offered for sale or sold as imperfect or damaged and said advertising, offer to sell or sale shall state the reason therefor and the quantity of such cigarettes advertised, offered for sale or to be sold; (d) where cigarettes are sold upon the complete final liquidation of a business; (e) where cigarettes are advertised, offered for sale or sold by any fiduciary or other officer acting under the order or direction of any court; (f) where cigarettes are advertised or offered for sale or sold for charitable purposes or to relief agencies; (g) where cigarettes are sold on contract to any department, board or commission of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, or to any institution maintained thereby.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 16 - Fair Competition; Prices

Section 16. Any retailer or wholesaler may advertise, offer to sell or sell cigarettes at a price made in good faith to meet the prices of a competitor who is selling the same article at cost to him as a wholesaler or retailer. The prices of cigarettes advertised, offered for sale or sold under the exemptions specified in section fifteen shall not be considered the price of a competitor and used as a basis for establishing prices below cost, nor shall prices established at bankrupt sales be considered as prices of a competitor within the purview of the first sentence of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 18 - Fictitious Prices; Discounts

Section 18. In determining cost to the retailer and cost to the wholesaler, the court shall receive and consider, as bearing on the bona fides of such cost, evidence tending to show that any person complained against under any provision of sections thirteen to twenty-one, inclusive, purchased cigarettes with respect to the sale of which complaint is made at a fictitious price or upon terms or in such a manner or under such invoices as to conceal the true cost, discounts or terms of purchase, and shall also receive and consider, as bearing on the bona fides of such cost, evidence of the normal, customary and prevailing terms and discounts in connection with other sales of a similar nature.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 19 - Invoice Cost of Goods Purchased at Forced Sales

Section 19. In establishing the cost of cigarettes to the retailer or wholesaler, the invoice cost of said cigarettes purchased at a forced, bankrupt, closeout sale or other sale outside of the ordinary channels of trade may not be used as a basis for justifying a price lower than one based upon the replacement cost of the cigarettes to the retailer or wholesaler within thirty days prior to the date of sale, in the quantity last purchased through the ordinary channels of trade.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 20 - Cost Survey as Evidence

Section 20. Where the particular trade, of which the person complained against is a member, has an established cost survey for the trading area in which the offense is committed, said cost survey shall be deemed competent evidence to be used in proving the cost to the person complained against within the provisions of sections thirteen to twenty-one, inclusive.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 21 - Liability of Agents Aiding Violations

Section 21. Any individual who as a director, officer, partner, member, or agent of any person violating any provision of this chapter assists or aids, directly or indirectly, in such violation shall, equally with the person for whom he acts, be responsible therefor and subject to the punishment and penalties specified in section ten and in subsection (a) of section fourteen and in sections thirty-four to thirty-eight, inclusive.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 26 - Police Power

Section 26. At the request of the commissioner, the colonel of state police may appoint employees of the department of revenue as special police officers, each to serve subject to removal by the colonel of state police. Such police officers shall report to the colonel of state police as to their official acts at such time and in such manner as he may require. They shall serve without pay, except their regular compensation as employees of the department of revenue, and shall have and exercise throughout the commonwealth powers of state police officers to serve warrants and other criminal processes and to arrest and detain any person violating any provision of this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 27 - Severability Clause

Section 27. If any provision or provisions of this chapter is or are declared unconstitutional or inoperative by a final judgment, order or decree of the supreme court of the United States or of the supreme judicial court of the commonwealth, the remaining parts of said chapter shall not be affected thereby.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 28 - Disposition of Sums Received

Section 28. Except as provided in sections 6 and 7A all sums received pursuant to the excise imposed by this chapter, together with any penalties, forfeitures, interest, costs of suits and fines collected in connection therewith, less all amounts refunded or abated in connection therewith, shall be credited as follows:
(a) Forty per cent of the amount in excess of $169,800,000 received during a fiscal year shall be credited to the Local Aid Fund;
(b) The balance remaining after crediting the amounts required under clause (a) shall be credited to the General Fund.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 29 - Payment of Tax Through Use of Adhesive Stamps

Section 29. The excise imposed by this chapter shall be paid to the commissioner through the use of adhesive stamps evidencing the payment of said excise, which stamps shall be of such design and in such denominations as the commissioner may prescribe. Except as otherwise provided, all stampers shall be liable for the payment of the excise imposed by this chapter and shall pay the excise to the commissioner by purchasing such stamps in accordance with such regulations as the commissioner may prescribe.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 31 - Redemption of Unused or Mutilated Stamps, Etc.

Section 31. The commissioner shall redeem any unused or mutilated but identifiable stamps that any stamper may present for redemption; provided, that they were originally lawfully purchased by the stamper who presents them for redemption. Such redemption shall be made at the face value thereof less allowances made for compensation. The commissioner may prescribe necessary rules and regulations for redemptions under this section. If the commissioner is satisfied that a stamper is entitled to a redemption he shall issue to him stamps of equivalent value to cover the mutilated stamps or he may order a refund equal to the actual amount paid for said unused or mutilated stamps, and shall certify said amount to the comptroller, whereupon the state treasurer shall pay the amount of such refund without any appropriation therefor by the general court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 33 - Unstamped Cigarettes or Stamps; Prohibition of Sale, etc.; Examination and Replacement of Unstamped or Improperly Stamped Packages

Section 33. Licensees and stampers shall not sell, borrow, loan or exchange unstamped cigarettes or stamps to, from or with other such licensees or stampers unless authorized by the commissioner. Licensees, other than stampers, shall not accept deliveries of unstamped or improperly stamped packages of cigarettes except as authorized by the commissioner. Every licensed retailer and licensed vending machine operator shall immediately examine all packages of cigarettes received by them and shall immediately return to their supplier any and all packages of cigarettes that are unstamped or improperly stamped. Such supplier shall replace them with packages of cigarettes upon which stamps have been properly affixed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 33a - Packages Containing Fewer Than 20 Cigarettes; Stamps; Penalties

Section 33A. A stamper shall not affix a stamp on a cigarette package containing fewer than 20 cigarettes. A licensee shall not hold for sale, offer for sale, sell, possess with intent to sell, or otherwise dispose of a cigarette package containing fewer than 20 cigarettes. In addition to other remedies provided by law, the commissioner may assess a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation of this section. The commissioner may suspend or revoke the stamping authority or license of a person who violates this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 34 - Possession, Sale, etc., of Unstamped Cigarettes; Penalty; Prima Facie Evidence; Presumptions

Section 34. Whoever, not being a licensed transportation company or a person specifically authorized by the commissioner, holds for sale, offers for sale, sells, possesses with intent to sell, or otherwise disposes of cigarettes within the commonwealth, unless each individual package containing said cigarettes has affixed thereto a Massachusetts stamp showing that said excise has been paid, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment in state prison for not more than five years, or both; provided, however, that a violation involving fewer than twelve thousand cigarettes, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
The absence of such stamp on any package containing said cigarettes which is held for sale, possessed with intent to sell, offered for sale, sold or otherwise disposed of within the commonwealth shall be prima facie evidence that said excise has not been paid thereon. If such a stamp on a package of cigarettes is stained or smudged and its characteristics are so blurred, obscured or indistinct that it cannot be distinguished as a Massachusetts excise stamp, it shall be presumed that the said excise has not been paid with respect to said package of cigarettes. It shall be presumed that all sales of cigarettes are subject to the said excise until the contrary is established, and the burden of proof that a sale is not taxable shall be upon the vendor.
If any cigarettes are found within the commonwealth in the place of business of any licensee, other than a stamper or such other licensee as the commissioner may authorize, without the stamp affixed thereto, it shall be prima facie evidence that such licensee in whose place of business said cigarettes were found possessed said unstamped cigarettes with the intent to sell the same.
Except as otherwise provided, the possession of cigarettes in unstamped packages by any person, other than a stamper or a licensee, shall be prima facie evidence that such person possessed said unstamped cigarettes with the intent to sell the same.
In addition to other remedies provided by law, the commissioner may assess a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation of this section.
The commissioner shall promulgate regulations to implement and enforce this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 35 - Possession or Transportation of Unstamped Cigarettes; Penalty; Arrest, Search and Seizure; Forfeitures

Section 35. Whoever, not being a stamper or licensed transportation company or such other person as the commissioner may authorize, knowingly possesses or delivers or transports unstamped cigarettes in the commonwealth shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment in state prison for not more than five years, or both; provided, however, that a violation involving fewer than twelve thousand cigarettes shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
Any such person shall be subject to all the provisions as to arrest, search and seizure, as set forth in section eight, insofar as applicable, and the unstamped cigarettes, the vending machines, receptacles, boxes or cartons in which the same are contained, any vehicle used in the illegal transportation and any records relating to the purchase and sale of such cigarettes shall be subject to seizure in the manner provided in said section eight and shall be turned over to the commissioner and shall be forfeited to the commonwealth. Proceedings shall be had as provided in section eight, and on the judgment of the court after verdict, whether a forfeiture of the whole or any part of the cigarettes, machines, receptacles, vehicles, and the records seized, or otherwise, similar proceedings shall be had as are directed in sections fifty to fifty-five, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight, except that the sale of such property shall be conducted by the commissioner.
In addition to other remedies provided by law, the commissioner may assess a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation of this section.
The commissioner shall promulgate regulations to implement and enforce this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 36 - Possession or Transportation of Unstamped Cigarettes; Necessity of Invoices or Delivery Tickets; Prima Facie Evidence

Section 36. Whoever, not being a stamper, or licensed transportation company or such other person as the commissioner may authorize, possesses, delivers or transports any unstamped cigarettes, except cigarettes acquired prior to the date when stamps were required to be affixed thereto and on which the excise imposed by this chapter has been paid, shall have in his actual possession invoices or delivery tickets for such cigarettes showing the true name and address of the consignor or seller, the true name and address of the consignee or purchaser, the quantity and brands of the cigarettes possessed or transported, and the name and address of the person who has assumed or shall assume the payment of the excise provided by this chapter at the ultimate point of destination, and failure to have such invoices or delivery tickets shall be prima facie evidence that such person knowingly possessed, delivered or transported unstamped cigarettes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 37 - Forgery, Alteration, etc., of Excise Stamps; Unauthorized Use of Metering Machine; Penalties; Forfeitures

Section 37. Whoever falsely or fraudulently makes, forges, alters or counterfeits, or causes or procures to be falsely or fraudulently made, forged, altered or counterfeited, any cigarette excise stamps prepared or prescribed by the commissioner under the authority of this chapter, or whoever knowingly and wilfully utters, publishes, passes or tenders as true, any such false, altered, forged or counterfeited stamp or makes a false affixation of or uses any stamp provided for by this chapter which has already once been used, for the purpose of evading the excise imposed by this chapter, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.
If any person secures, manufactures or causes to be secured or manufactured, or has in his possession, any cigarette excise stamp or die or device not prescribed or authorized by the commissioner, or any counterfeit impression, such fact shall be prima facie evidence that such person has counterfeited stamps. Whoever wilfully removes or alters or knowingly permits to be removed or altered the cancelling or defacing mark of any stamp provided for by this chapter with intent to use such stamp, or knowingly or wilfully buys, prepares for use, uses, has in possession, or suffers to be used, any metering machine without authority, or any washed, restored or counterfeit stamps, or whoever intentionally removes or causes to be removed, or knowingly permits to be removed, any stamp or meter impression affixed pursuant to this chapter, or whoever tampers with or causes to be tampered with any metering machine authorized to be used under the provisions thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.
Any stamps, metering machines or devices not prescribed or authorized by the commissioner shall be subject to seizure in the manner provided in section eight and shall be forfeited to the commonwealth and proceedings shall be had as provided in said section eight and in sections fifty to fifty-five, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 38 - Unauthorized Use of Excise Stamps; Penalty

Section 38. Whoever, not being an authorized agent, sells or offers for sale any stamp or stamps issued under the provisions of this chapter in order to provide evidence of the payment of the excise imposed by this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or by imprisonment for five years, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 38a - Seizure, Forfeiture and Sale of Unstamped Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco on Which Tax Has Not Been Paid

Section 38A. Whenever the commissioner or a police officer discovers, in the possession of any person not being a stamper, licensed transportation company or one authorized by the commissioner, any cigarettes subject to tax under this chapter that do not have affixed to them the required Massachusetts stamps showing the payment of excise, or any smokeless tobacco on which tax has not been paid, he may seize and take possession of those cigarettes or smokeless tobacco, together with any vending machine or other receptacle, which shall include, without limitation, a motor vehicle, boat or airplane, in which the cigarettes or smokeless tobacco are contained or in which they are transported. The cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, vending machine or other receptacle seized by a police officer shall be turned over to the commissioner and shall be forfeited to the commonwealth. The commissioner shall destroy such cigarettes and smokeless tobacco and shall destroy or otherwise dispose of such vending machine or other receptacle. The commissioner may, within a reasonable time after the seizure, by a public notice at least 5 days before the day of sale, sell the vending machine or other receptacle at public sale and deposit the proceeds in the General Fund.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 39 - Application of Secs. 29 to 39

Section 39. Nothing in sections twenty-nine to thirty-nine, inclusive, shall affect any of the other provisions of this chapter and all of said other provisions shall continue in full force and effect and shall apply to sections twenty-nine to thirty-nine, inclusive, insofar as they are applicable. Unless the commissioner shall otherwise prescribe, all licensees shall be subject to all the duties, obligations, restraints, prohibitions and provisions which are imposed by this chapter on such licensees, notwithstanding that certain of such licensees may also act as, and be subject to the provisions of, stampers.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 40 - Multi-Agency Illegal Tobacco Task Force; Powers and Duties; Meetings; Annual Report

Section 40. (a) There shall be a multi-agency illegal tobacco task force. The task force shall coordinate efforts to combat the distribution of contraband tobacco and tobacco products, as defined in section 6 of chapter 270, including efforts to foster compliance with the law and conduct targeted investigations and enforcement actions against violators. The task force shall be co-chaired by the colonel of state police or a designee and the commissioner of revenue or a designee and shall also consist of: the secretary of public safety and security or a designee; the state treasurer or a designee; the attorney general or a designee; and the commissioner of public health or a designee.
(b) The task force shall:
(i) facilitate timely information sharing among state agencies in order to advise or refer matters of potential investigative interest;
(ii) dedicate not less than an aggregate of 20 personnel from member agencies to carry out enforcement and investigative strategies;
(iii) identify where the distribution of contraband tobacco and tobacco products, as defined in section 6 of chapter 270, is most prevalent and target task force members' investigative and enforcement resources against those in violation of this chapter and chapter 62C, including through the formation of joint investigative and enforcement teams;
(iv) assess existing investigative and enforcement methods in the commonwealth and in other jurisdictions and develop and recommend strategies to improve those methods; and
(v) solicit the cooperation and participation of other relevant enforcement agencies and establish procedures for referring cases to prosecuting authorities as appropriate.
(c) The multi-agency illegal tobacco task force shall meet at times and places to be determined by the co-chairs and may establish working groups, meetings, forums or any other activity deemed necessary to carry out its mandate.
(d) The task force shall submit a report not later than March 1 of each year on the results of its findings, activities and recommendations from the preceding year with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the chairs of the joint committee on revenue, the chairs of the senate and house committees on ways and means and the chairs of the joint committee on public safety and homeland security. The report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a description of the task force's efforts and activities during the year; (ii) identification of any administrative or legal barriers, including any barriers to multi-agency action or enforcement efforts; and (iii) proposed legislative or regulatory changes necessary to strengthen operations and enforcement efforts and reduce or eliminate any impediments to those efforts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 1 - Rate of Taxation; Instrument Excepted

Section 1. There shall be levied, collected and paid, for and in respect of the deeds, instruments and writings hereinafter mentioned and described, or for or in respect of the vellum, parchment or paper upon which such deeds, instruments or writings, or any of them are written or printed, the excise taxes herein specified:— Deed, instrument or writing, whereby any lands, tenements or other realty sold shall be granted, assigned, transferred or otherwise conveyed to, or vested in, the purchaser or purchasers, or any other person or persons, by his, her or their direction, when the consideration of the interest or property conveyed, exclusive of the value of any lien or encumbrance remaining thereon at the time of the sale, exceeds one hundred dollars and does not exceed five hundred dollars, two dollars; and for each additional five hundred dollars or fractional part thereof, two dollars; provided, however, that in Barnstable county, the excise tax herein specified shall be one dollar and fifty cents for each five hundred dollars or fractional part of said consideration, excluding a consideration of between zero and one hundred dollars. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section or any other general or special law to the contrary, Nantucket county may disburse and expend deposits in said Funds for the purpose of facilities and programs related to law enforcement, including the planning, improving or constructing of police stations and other related facilities and programs. This chapter shall not apply to any instrument or writing given to secure a debt or to any deed, instrument or writing to which the commonwealth, a city or town of the commonwealth, or the United States or any of their agencies are a party.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 2 - Person Subject to Tax; Method of Denoting Payment; ''person'' Defined

Section 2. The tax imposed by this chapter shall be paid by the person who makes or signs the deed, instrument or writing, or for whose benefit the same is made or signed. The payment of the tax shall be denoted by adhesive stamps affixed to the deed, instrument or writing, or to the vellum, parchment or paper upon which it is written or printed.
The person using or affixing a stamp shall cancel the same by writing or stamping thereon the initials of his name and the date when the same is affixed or used, in such manner that it cannot be used again; provided, however, that the stamp shall not be so defaced as to prevent determination of its denomination and genuineness.
The word ''person'' shall, for the purposes of this chapter only, include political subdivisions of the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 3 - Use of Stamps for Payment of Tax; Metering Machines, Etc.

Section 3. Adhesive stamps for the purpose of paying the excise under this chapter shall be prepared by the commissioner in such form, of such denominations and in such quantities as he may prescribe. He shall make provision for the sale of such stamps in such places and at such times as he deems necessary. He shall provide for the custody of the stamps, dies, plates and other materials and things used in the manufacture of said stamps in such manner as he deems expedient.
The commissioner may cause to be installed in any registry of deeds one or more metering machines, so called, through which said adhesive stamps can be sold and may remove any such machine if he deems it expedient. Upon the installation of such a metering machine or machines the register of deeds of said registry shall sell stamps from said metering machines to persons requiring the same for affixation to instruments in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
Each register of deeds shall on or before the tenth day of each month account to the commissioner on a form prescribed and furnished by him for all sales made by said register during the preceding calendar month and shall turn over to the commissioner all moneys received from said sales, less any adjustments approved by him. Each register of deeds, with the approval of the advisory board on county expenditures and the county commissioners, shall for the purposes of purchasing equipment or services relative to electronic reporting, indexing, computers and systems designed to modernize and maintain registry records, retain interest earned on the deposit of excise stamp fees. Each such register shall, annually, furnish to the county treasurer a financial report regarding such interest and the expenditure thereof in accordance with accepted accounting procedures.
The machines shall, upon installation, be sealed by the commissioner, and he or his duly appointed agent or agents shall take readings of the said machines at such times and in such manner as he shall direct.
Each register of deeds, in whose registry there has been installed a metering machine, shall give to the commissioner a bond, in a penal sum and with sureties approved by the commissioner, conditioned satisfactorily to account for money received by said register in his official capacity from the sale of said stamps. The premium for such bond shall be paid by the state treasurer upon certification by the commissioner.
The provisions of sections three A and three B shall not be applicable to any registry of deeds during the period within which a metering machine is installed therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 3a - Funds at Registries of Deeds for Purchase of Excise Stamps for Sale, Etc.

Section 3A. The county commissioners may draw and approve an order, which shall be certified by their clerk, directing the county treasurer to pay over to each register of deeds of his county an amount of money sufficient to meet the probable monthly requirements of each such registry for the handling of the adhesive stamps provided by section three of this chapter, to be used by said registers as a fund for the purchase, from time to time, of such stamps which may be kept and offered for sale at each such registry of deeds.
The proceeds from the sale of said stamps shall be paid into said fund and shall be used and re-used for the further purchase of said stamps, without further order and approval of the county commissioners, notwithstanding the provisions of sections ten, eleven and twenty-two of chapter thirty-five and of section thirty-nine of chapter thirty-six.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 3b - Reimbursement by State of Counties for Bond Premiums

Section 3B. If a register of deeds through his county treasurer has paid the premium for a surety company bond required in connection with the obtaining, keeping and selling of such stamps, the commissioner, on proof of such payment, shall certify to the comptroller the amount so paid, and the state treasurer shall reimburse the county therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 4 - Erroneously Affixed Stamps; Abatement

Section 4. If any stamps have been erroneously affixed, the person who has overpaid the tax may apply to the commissioner for an abatement in accordance with section thirty-seven of chapter sixty-two C.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 6 - Powers and Duties of Commissioner; Penalty for Interference, False Entries, Etc.

Section 6. The commissioner shall administer and enforce the taxes imposed by this chapter. At any time after the making of a conveyance or transfer subject to the excise imposed by this chapter, he may investigate and ascertain whether said excise, in the proper amount, was paid. For this purpose, the commissioner may examine any books, papers, records or memoranda bearing upon the amount of excise payable, and may enforce by mandamus his right to such examination. Whoever refuses to permit the commissioner, or any of his agents or representatives, to inspect such books, papers, records or memoranda, or fails to preserve the same for two years, or alters, cancels or obliterates any part thereof, or makes any false entry therein, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not less than three months nor more than two years, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 6a - Failure to Affix Stamps; Penalty

Section 6A. Whoever signs and delivers to a purchaser or purchasers, or to any person or persons designated by such purchaser or purchasers, a deed, instrument or writing which does not have the stamps required by this chapter affixed thereto or to the vellum, parchment or paper upon which it is written or printed, or whoever leaves or causes to be left for recording or registration in any registry of deeds within the commonwealth an original deed, instrument or writing which does not have the stamps required by this chapter affixed thereto or to the vellum, parchment or paper upon which it is written or printed, or a duplicate deed, instrument or writing without first having left or caused to be left for recording or registration in a registry of deeds within the commonwealth the original thereof, shall be subject to such penalty, not exceeding one hundred dollars, as the commissioner may determine. Such penalty shall be payable upon notice from the commissioner and shall be collected in the same manner as the excise imposed by this chapter. For good and sufficient cause, the commissioner may abate such penalty in whole or in part.
In no event shall the provisions of this section operate to impair the validity of any deed, instrument or writing or the validity of its recording or registration.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 6b - Refusal to Register; Lack of Required Stamps

Section 6B. The register of deeds may refuse to record or register any deed, instrument or writing which does not have the stamps required by this chapter, as determined by the register, affixed thereto or to vellum, parchment or paper upon which it is written or printed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 7 - Penalty for False Affixation of Stamps

Section 7. Any person knowingly making a false affixation of stamps on deeds or other instruments provided for by this chapter for the purpose of defrauding the commonwealth shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 8 - Penalty for Illegal Removal of Stamp

Section 8. Whoever wilfully removes or alters or knowingly permits to be removed or altered the cancelling or defacing mark of any stamp provided for by this chapter with intent to use such stamp, or knowingly or wilfully buys, prepares for use, uses, has in possession, or suffers to be used, any washed, restored or counterfeit stamps, or whoever intentionally removes or causes to be removed, or knowingly permits to be removed, any stamp affixed pursuant to this chapter, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 9 - Penalty for Fraudulent Use of Stamp

Section 9. Whoever fraudulently makes use of an adhesive stamp to denote the payment of the excise imposed by this chapter, without effectually cancelling it in accordance with section two, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64d - Excise on Deeds, Instruments and Writings › Section 12 - Disbursement of Funds

Section 12. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, of that portion of the amounts deposited in the Deeds Excise Fund for each county from revenues collected pursuant to this chapter which represents 10.625 per cent of the taxes collected: (1) not more than 60 per cent of the deposits shall be disbursed and expended for meeting the costs of the operation and maintenance of the county; and (2) not less than 40 per cent shall be disbursed and expended for the automation, modernization and operation of the registries of deeds.
(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, with respect to funds appropriated for the purposes designated in clause (2) of subsection (a) and which are not dedicated to the Deeds Excise Fund in each county under section 11, the county budget shall provide a continuing amount of expenditure of not less than 102.5 per cent of the amount expended for that purpose in the preceding fiscal year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64e - Taxation of Special Fuels Used in the Propulsion of Motor Vehicles › Section 1 - Definitions

Section 1. The following words and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires:—
(a) ''Commissioner'', the commissioner of revenue.
[There is no paragraph (b).]
(c) ''Special fuels'' shall mean and include all combustible gases and liquids, used or sold for use in an internal combustion engine or motor for the generation of power to propel motor vehicles registered for use on the public highways, except such fuels defined as ''Fuel'' in paragraph (d) of section one of chapter sixty-four A.
(d) ''Supplier'', any person who sells or delivers special fuels to a user-seller and any person who imports special fuels into the commonwealth other than in the usual tank or receptacle connected with the engine of the motor vehicle in the operation of which the special fuels are to be consumed, and resells or uses the same in a motor vehicle owned or operated by such person, and any person who otherwise would be a user-seller and who has elected instead to qualify and be licensed as a supplier.
(e) ''User-seller'', any person, not licensed as a supplier, who dispenses special fuel into the fuel tanks of, or attached to motor vehicles, including any such person who so dispenses special fuels for consumption in such motor vehicles owned, leased or operated by him. Any user-seller may, with the permission of the commissioner, elect instead to qualify and be licensed as a supplier.
(f) ''User of special fuels'', any person, including a supplier or user-seller, who owns or leases any special fuels propelled motor vehicle operated over the highways of this commonwealth.
(g) ''Use'' shall mean and include, in addition to its usual meaning, the receipt of special fuels by any person into a fuel supply tank of a registered motor vehicle or into a receptacle from which special fuels are supplied by any person to his own or other registered motor vehicles.
(h) ''Motor vehicle'' shall include any vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular, except boats, tractors used exclusively for agricultural purposes and such vehicles as run only on rails or tracks.
(i) ''Purchaser'' shall include, in addition to its usual meaning, a person who transfers special fuels into a motor vehicle, or into a receptacle from which special fuel is supplied by him to his own or other motor vehicles.
(j) ''Sale'' shall include, in addition to its usual meaning, the transfer of special fuel by a supplier into a motor vehicle or into a receptacle from which special fuel is supplied by him to his own or other motor vehicles.
(k) ''Liquified gas'', that type of special fuels which is a combustible gas and exists in the gaseous state at a temperature of 60° Fahrenheit and a pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64e - Taxation of Special Fuels Used in the Propulsion of Motor Vehicles › Section 2 - Licenses; Prohibited Acts; Penalty; Lists of Licensees

Section 2. The commissioner may grant licenses to persons as user-sellers, suppliers, or users of special fuels in accordance with section sixty-seven of chapter sixty-two C.
No person other than a licensed supplier shall maintain storage facilities for special fuels and dispense special fuels therefrom into any fuel tank attached to a motor vehicle unless such person is the holder of an uncancelled license as a user-seller issued by the commissioner.
No person shall sell or deliver special fuels within this commonwealth to a licensed user-seller unless such person is the holder of an uncancelled license as a supplier issued by the commissioner.
No person owning or leasing a motor vehicle propelled by special fuels shall use the highways of this commonwealth with said motor vehicle unless such person is the holder of an uncancelled license as a user of special fuels issued by the commissioner for each such motor vehicle. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to noncommercial passenger vehicles having a fuel tank capacity of not more than twenty-five gallons, self-propelled campers or auto homes used exclusively for noncommercial purposes. Whoever violates the provisions of this paragraph shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars. Any person charged with such a violation may, in writing without his presence in court, waive his right to trial, plead guilty and pay the maximum statutory penalty. Such waiver of the right to trial and plea of guilty shall be made on a form approved by the administrative justice of the district court department and shall be provided to each defendant by the appropriate division of the court department at the same time and in the same manner as the issuance of any summons. Any person who desires to waive his right to trial and to plead guilty without his appearance in court shall return such written waiver and plea together with payment of the maximum statutory penalty before the return day of such summons.
The commissioner shall furnish each licensed supplier with a list of the names and business addresses of licensed user-sellers at the beginning of each calendar year and shall thereafter, during such year, supplement such list at least quarterly.
The commissioner as a condition of issuing any license under this section may require that the applicant state, under the penalties of perjury, that he will purchase special fuels or accept delivery of special fuels only from a person licensed under this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64e - Taxation of Special Fuels Used in the Propulsion of Motor Vehicles › Section 3 - Records and Written Statements

Section 3. Each licensee shall keep a complete and accurate record of all purchases, sales and use of special fuels, including the name and address of the person accepting delivery of said special fuels to be used in a vehicle for the propulsion over the highways, its place and date of delivery, the gross sales price or cost and the number of gallons of each type of special fuels purchased, sold and used and the complete and accurate record of the number of gallons imported, produced, refined, manufactured or compounded and the date of the importation, production, refining, manufacturing or compounding.
Every licensee shall also present with every consignment of special fuels or delivery of the same to any person other than himself a written statement containing the date of the sale or use within the commonwealth, the date of delivery, the name of the person making the delivery and the name of the person receiving the same, the gross sales price and the number of gallons of each type of special fuel delivered and shall retain a duplicate of each such statement. In the case of use of special fuels by the licensee himself, he shall keep an accurate record of all the deliveries received by him and the names and addresses of the persons from whom he received the same, giving the dates of deliveries, the cost of each type of special fuels delivered and the number of gallons of each type involved in each delivery.
Such records and written statements shall be in such form as commissioner shall prescribe and shall be preserved by said licensees for a period of three years and shall be offered for inspection at any time upon oral or written demand by the commissioner or his duly authorized agent.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64e - Taxation of Special Fuels Used in the Propulsion of Motor Vehicles › Section 4 - Payments; Tax Rate

Section 4. At the time of filing a return required by section sixteen of chapter sixty-two C, every licensee other than a user shall pay to the commissioner an excise at the tax per gallon determined by the commissioner under chapter sixty-four A upon each gallon of special fuels sold or used by him in the commonwealth during the calendar month covered by the return. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the tax per gallon payable upon each gallon of liquified gas shall be separately determined by the commissioner, utilizing the same procedures as those used for fuel under chapter 64A, at a rate of 19.1 per cent of the average price computed to the nearest tenth of one per cent per gallon and such tax per gallon as so determined shall apply to each gallon of liquified gas sold or used by a licensee in the commonwealth during the calendar month covered by the return.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64e - Taxation of Special Fuels Used in the Propulsion of Motor Vehicles › Section 10 - Purchaser Required to Bear Tax Burden; Penalty

Section 10. Except as otherwise provided in section five, the tax in every instance shall be borne by the purchaser, and no person offering special fuels for sale shall sell, advertise or offer for sale said special fuels separately from the tax imposed by this chapter. For any violation of this section, the license to keep and sell crude petroleum or any of its products, issued by the licensing authority under chapter one hundred and forty-eight, shall be suspended by the said authority on request of the commissioner for such time as said commissioner deems proper.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64e - Taxation of Special Fuels Used in the Propulsion of Motor Vehicles › Section 11 - Penalty for Violations

Section 11. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, for which a penalty is not otherwise provided, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for one year, or both.