PART I. 
GENERAL PROVISIONS



 



§245-1  Definitions.  As used in this
chapter, unless a different meaning is indicated by the context:



"Armed services of the United States"
for purposes of this chapter shall include the Department of Defense, United
States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Department of Transportation in the case
of Coast Guard facilities, or Coast Guard, and their respective reserve,
National Guard, and auxiliaries.



"Attorney general" means the state
attorney general or deputy attorneys general.



"Business location" or "place of
business" means the entire premises occupied by a retail tobacco permit
applicant or an entity required to hold a retail tobacco permit under this
chapter and shall include but is not limited to any store, stand, outlet,
vehicle, cart, location, vending machine, or structure from which cigarettes or
tobacco products are sold or distributed to a consumer.



"Cigarette" means any roll for
smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, irrespective of size and shape and
whether or not the tobacco is flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other
ingredient, the wrapper or cover of which is made of paper or any other
substance or material except tobacco.



"Cigarette package" means a sealed
package of cigarettes originating from the manufacturer and bearing the health
warning required by law.



"Consumer" means a person who
acquires or possesses a cigarette or a tobacco product for personal consumption
and not for resale or distribution.



"Dealer" means any person coming into
the possession of cigarettes or tobacco products which have not been acquired
from an authorized permit holder or licensee under this chapter, or any person
rendering a distribution service who buys and maintains, at the person's place
of business, a stock of cigarettes or tobacco products that have not been
acquired from a licensee and who distributes or uses such cigarettes or tobacco
products.



"Department" means the department of
taxation.



"Distribute",
"distributes", or "distribution" means to sell, ship, transfer,
give, or deliver to another, or to leave, barter, or exchange with another, or
to offer or agree to do the same.



"Entity" means one or more
individuals, a company, corporation, a partnership, an association, or any
other type of legal entity.



"Falsely alter" means to change a
stamp in any manner so that the altered stamp falsely appears or purports to
have a value or validity that is not authorized or consented to by the
department.



"Falsely make" means to print,
manufacture, or make what purports to be a stamp without the authority or
consent of the department.



"Falsely reuse" means to affix a
stamp that was previously affixed to a package of cigarettes, to another
package of cigarettes.



"Intentionally" for purposes of this
chapter shall have the same meaning as in section 702-206.



"Knowingly" for purposes of this
chapter shall have the same meaning as in section 702-206.



"License" means a license granted
under this chapter, that authorizes the holder to engage in the business of a
wholesaler or dealer of cigarettes or tobacco products in the State.  For
purposes of any action brought pursuant to section 231-35, the term
"license" shall include a retail tobacco permit required under this
chapter.



"Licensee" means the holder of a
license as a wholesaler or dealer granted under this chapter.



"Little cigar" means any roll for
smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco if such product is wrapped in any
substance containing tobacco, with a ring gauge of less than thirty (less than
.467 inches in diameter), of any length.



"Permittee" means the holder of a
retail tobacco permit in accordance with this chapter.



"Persons" means one or more people, a
company, corporation, a partnership, or an association.



"Possession" means knowingly having
direct physical control at a given time or knowingly having the power and the
intention, at a given time, to exercise dominion or control, either directly or
through another entity.



"Prosecuting attorney" means the
prosecuting attorney or the deputy prosecuting attorneys of each of the
respective counties.



"Recklessly" for purposes of this
chapter shall have the same meaning as in section 702-206.



"Retailer" means an entity that
engages in the practice of selling cigarettes or tobacco products to consumers
and includes the owner of a cigarette or tobacco product vending machine.



"Retail price" means the ordinary,
customary, or usual price paid by the consumer for the articles taxed.



"Retail sale" or "tobacco
retailing" means the practice of selling cigarettes or tobacco products to
consumers and includes the sale of cigarettes or tobacco through a vending
machine.



"Retail tobacco permit" means a
permit granted under this chapter that authorizes an entity to engage in the
business of selling cigarettes and tobacco products to consumers.



"Sale" includes every act of selling
and includes any sale or act of selling that originates from any order that is
placed or submitted by means of a telephonic or other method of voice
transmission, the mail, or any other delivery service, or the Internet or other
online service.



"Sale" or "sold" includes
any delivery of cigarettes or tobacco products, whether cash is actually paid
therefor or not.



"Sell" means to:



(1)  Solicit and receive an order for;



(2)  Have, keep, offer, or expose for sale;



(3)  Deliver for value or deliver in any other way
than purely gratuitously;



(4)  Peddle;



(5)  Keep with intent to sell; and



(6)  Traffic in.



"Ship" or "causes to be
shipped" means to send by any means of transportation, including by vessel,
vehicle, or aircraft.



"Stamp" means a stamp printed,
manufactured, or made by authority of the department, as provided in this
chapter, that is issued, sold, or circulated by the department, and by the use
of which the tax levied under this chapter is paid.



"Tobacco products" means tobacco in
any form other than cigarettes or little cigars, that is prepared or intended
for consumption or for personal use by humans, including cigars and any
substitutes thereof other than cigarettes that bear the semblance thereof,
snuff, chewing or smokeless tobacco, and smoking or pipe tobacco.



"Tobacco tax" means the tax imposed
by this chapter.



"Use" means the exercise of any right
or power incident to ownership or possession, other than the sale, or the
keeping or retention for the purpose of sale.



"Wholesale price", in addition to any
other meaning of the term, means in the case of a tax upon the use of tobacco
products, or upon a sale not made at wholesale:



(1)  If made by a person who during the month preceding
the accrual of the tax made substantial sales to retailers of like tobacco
products, the average price of the sales, and



(2)  If made by any other person, the average price of
sales to retailers of like tobacco products made by other taxpayers in the same
county during the month preceding the accrual of the tax.



"Wholesaler" means a person rendering
a distribution service who buys and maintains, at the person's place of
business, a stock of cigarettes or tobacco products that the person uses,
possesses, or distributes only to retailers, or other wholesalers, or both. [L
1939, c 220, §2; RL 1945, §5751; RL 1955, §125-1; am L 1957, c 34, §20; HRS
§245-1; am L 1993, c 220, §7; am L 1994, c 104, §1; am L 2000, c 249, §§3,
20(2); am L 2001, c 270, §3; am L 2004, c 157, §§3, 4; am L 2005, c 131, §§2,
9(2); am L 2009, c 30, §2 and c 58, §2]