Opinion ID: 1724173
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Heading: Applicability of Chapter 453B.

Text: A. Eames' status as a dealer. As noted earlier, chapter 453B imposes an excise tax on dealers. Iowa Code § 453B.7. A dealer is defined in part as any person possessing 42½ grams or more of marijuana. Id. § 453B.1(3)(b). Eames claims he was not a dealer because he pled guilty to possession of forty grams of marijuana, an amount less than that required by the statutory definition of dealer. Consequently, he argues, the tax was incorrectly assessed against him. The district court concluded the State was not bound by the defendant's plea bargain in the prior possession case. We agree with the court's conclusion but also believe Eames' challenge fails for a more fundamental reason. Section 453B.9 expressly provides the tax is presumed valid and correctly determined and assessed. Iowa Code Ann. § 453B.9. If a taxpayer disputes his dealer status, he may appeal the assessment. Id. The burden is upon the taxpayer to prove he was not a dealer. Id. Eames has not shown he successfully appealed the tax assessment; he may not contest the correctness of the assessment here. Even considering Eames' argument on its merits, we find the tax was properly assessed. Section 453B.9 allows the director to assess the tax based on knowledge or information available to the director. Here, the tax assessment rested on information provided by local law enforcement authorities that Eames possessed two quarter pounds of marijuana. (A quarter of a pound is considered in excess of 42½ grams.) Basing the assessment on this information was entirely proper under chapter 453B, notwithstanding Eames' guilty plea to possession of a lesser amount. B. Jeopardy assessment. Eames argues the assessment made against him was never really in jeopardy because he owned real estate and the State could have placed a lien on that property to secure payment of the tax. Therefore, he concludes, it was improper for the State to proceed to collect the tax under the summary procedures available for jeopardy assessments. Section 453B.9 states: All assessments of taxes made pursuant to this chapter shall be considered jeopardy assessments.... The statute clearly encompasses all assessments with no qualification or limitation. Therefore, we will not read into section 453B.9 an additional requirement that, in order to qualify as a jeopardy assessment, the assessment not be collectible using other measures. See Schultze v. Landmark Hotel Corp., 463 N.W.2d 47, 49 (Iowa 1990) (Ordinarily, we may not, under the guise of judicial construction, add modifying words to the statute or change its terms.); State v. Hesford, 242 N.W.2d 256, 258 (Iowa 1976) (holding same).