Connecticut 2019 2019 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB01140 Introduced / Bill

Filed 04/23/2019

                       
 
LCO No. 7330  	1 of 6 
 
General Assembly  Raised Bill No. 1140  
January Session, 2019  
LCO No. 7330 
 
 
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND 
BONDING  
 
 
Introduced by:  
(FIN)  
 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING WI NE IMPORTATION. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Section 30-18a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2 
(a) (1) An out-of-state winery shipper's permit for wine shall allow 3 
the sale of wine to manufacturer and wholesaler permittees in this 4 
state as permitted by law and for those shippers that produce not more 5 
than one hundred thousand gallons of wine per year, the sale and 6 
shipment by the holder thereof to a retailer of wine manufactured by 7 
such permittee in the original sealed containers of not more than 8 
fifteen gallons per container. For purposes of this section, "wine" shall 9 
include cider not exceeding six per cent alcohol by volume and apple 10 
wine not exceeding fifteen per cent alcohol by volume. 11 
(2) An out-of-state retailer shipper's permit for wine shall allow the 12 
sale and shipment of wine directly to a consumer in this state. 13     
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(b) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, [an out-of-state 14 
winery shipper's permit for wine] the permits under subsection (a) of 15 
this section shall allow the sale and delivery or shipment of wine 16 
manufactured or sold by the permittee directly to a consumer in this 17 
state. Such permittee, when selling and shipping wine directly to a 18 
consumer in this state, shall: (1) Ensure that the shipping labels on all 19 
containers of wine shipped directly to a consumer in this state 20 
conspicuously state the following: "CONTAINS ALCOHOL —21 
SIGNATURE OF A PERSON AGE 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR 22 
DELIVERY"; (2) obtain the signature of a person age twenty-one or 23 
older at the address prior to delivery, after requiring the signer to 24 
demonstrate that he or she is age twenty-one or older by providing a 25 
valid motor vehicle operator's license or a valid identity card described 26 
in section 1-1h; (3) not ship more than five gallons of wine in any two-27 
month period to any person in this state and not ship any wine until 28 
such permittee is registered, with respect to the permittee's sales of 29 
wine to consumers in this state, for purposes of the taxes imposed 30 
under chapters 219 and 220, with the Department of Revenue Services; 31 
(4) pay, to the Department of Revenue Services, all sales taxes and 32 
alcoholic beverage taxes due under chapters 219 and 220 on sales of 33 
wine to consumers in this state, and file, with said department, all sales 34 
tax returns and alcoholic beverage tax returns relating to such sales, 35 
with the amount of such taxes to be calculated as if the sale were in this 36 
state at the location where delivery is made; (5) report to the 37 
Department of Consumer Protection a separate and complete record of 38 
all sales and shipments to consumers in the state, on a ledger sheet or 39 
similar form which readily presents a chronological account of such 40 
permittee's dealings with each such consumer; (6) permit the 41 
Department of Consumer Protection and Department of Revenue 42 
Services, separately or jointly, to perform an audit of the permittee's 43 
records upon request; (7) not ship to any address in the state where the 44 
sale of alcoholic liquor is prohibited by local option pursuant to section 45 
30-9; (8) hold an in-state transporter's permit pursuant to section 30-19f 46 
or make any such shipment through the use of a person who holds 47     
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such an in-state transporter's permit; and (9) execute a written consent 48 
to the jurisdiction of this state, its agencies and instrumentalities and 49 
the courts of this state concerning the enforcement of this section and 50 
any related laws, rules, or regulations, including tax laws, rules or 51 
regulations. 52 
(c) The Department of Consumer Protection, in consultation with 53 
the Department of Revenue Services, may adopt regulations in 54 
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 to assure compliance 55 
with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. 56 
(d) A holder of [an out-of-state winery shipper's permit for wine] a 57 
permit under subsection (a) of this section, when advertising or 58 
offering wine for direct shipment to a consumer in this state via the 59 
Internet or any other on-line computer network, shall clearly and 60 
conspicuously state such liquor permit number in its advertising. 61 
(e) (1) For purposes of chapter 219, the holder of [an out-of-state 62 
winery shipper's permit for wine] a permit under subsection (a) of this 63 
section, when shipping wine directly to a consumer in this state, shall 64 
be deemed to be a retailer engaged in business in this state as defined 65 
in chapter 219 and shall be required to be issued a seller's permit 66 
pursuant to chapter 219. 67 
(2) For purposes of chapter 220, the holder of [an out-of-state winery 68 
shipper's permit for wine] a permit under subsection (a) of this section, 69 
when shipping wine directly to a consumer in this state, shall be 70 
deemed to be a distributor as defined in chapter 220 and shall be 71 
required to be licensed pursuant to chapter 220. 72 
(f) Any person who applies for an out-of-state winery shipper's 73 
permit for wine or for the renewal of such permit shall furnish an 74 
affidavit to the Department of Consumer Protection, in such form as 75 
may be prescribed by the department, affirming whether the out-of-76 
state winery that is the subject of such permit produced more than one 77 
hundred thousand gallons of wine during the most recently completed 78     
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calendar year. 79 
(g) The annual fee for [an out-of-state winery shipper's permit for 80 
wine] a permit under subsection (a) of this section shall be three 81 
hundred fifteen dollars. The Department of Consumer Protection shall 82 
not issue more than one hundred fifty out-of-state retail shipper's 83 
permits under this section that are operative at any given time. 84 
(h) As used in this section, "out-of-state" means any state other than 85 
Connecticut, any territory or possession of the United States, the 86 
District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, but does 87 
not include any foreign country. 88 
Sec. 2. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 12-436 of the general 89 
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 90 
(Effective July 1, 2019): 91 
(a) (1) Each distributor of alcoholic beverages, before engaging in 92 
such business, shall make application to the Commissioner of Revenue 93 
Services, on forms to be prescribed and furnished by the 94 
commissioner, for a distributor's license, which license, in case the 95 
applicant has complied with all other laws of the state pertaining to 96 
such business, shall authorize the manufacture and processing of 97 
alcoholic beverages in this state and importation into this state of 98 
alcoholic beverages and the sale within this state of such 99 
manufactured, processed or imported beverages. 100 
(2) The commissioner may [, in the commissioner's discretion,] 101 
refuse to issue a license if the commissioner has reasonable ground to 102 
believe that the distributor has wilfully made any false statement of 103 
substance with respect to such application for a license, that the 104 
distributor has neglected to pay any taxes due to this state or that the 105 
distributor has been convicted of violating any of the alcoholic 106 
beverages tax laws of this or any other state or the alcoholic beverages 107 
tax laws of the United States or has such a criminal record that the 108 
commissioner reasonably believes that such distributor is not a 109     
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suitable person to be issued a license, provided no refusal shall be 110 
rendered under this subdivision except in accordance with the 111 
provisions of sections 46a-80 and 46a-81. 112 
(b) (1) No person, except a licensed distributor and railroad or 113 
airline companies so far as they conduct such beverage business in cars 114 
or passenger trains or airplanes, shall sell any alcoholic beverages in 115 
this state or possess such beverages with intent to sell, unless such 116 
beverages have previously been subject to the tax imposed by this 117 
chapter. 118 
(2) (A) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision and 119 
sections 30-18 and 30-18a, as amended by this act, no person shall ship, 120 
transport or import alcoholic beverages into this state unless such 121 
alcoholic beverages are delivered to a licensed distributor or to an 122 
internal revenue or United States customs bonded warehouse under 123 
regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Revenue Services, or 124 
are transported in bonded trucks to vessels in Connecticut ports for 125 
export. 126 
(B) [(i)] Any individual may import alcoholic beverages purchased 127 
by such individual within the territorial limits of the United States, 128 
including wine purchased by such individual within or from such 129 
territorial limits and delivered or shipped to such individual, to an 130 
amount not to exceed five gallons in any [sixty-day] two-month period 131 
for such individual's own consumption. [, (ii) any] 132 
(C) Any individual may import alcoholic beverages, whether or not 133 
purchased by such individual, from outside the territorial limits of the 134 
United States to an amount not to exceed five gallons in any three-135 
hundred-sixty-five-day period for such individual's own consumption. 136 
[, and (iii) any] 137 
(D) Any individual who has resided outside the United States for a 138 
period of six months or more may, on one occasion and in conjunction 139 
with the return of such individual's personal and household goods and 140     
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effects upon the termination of such foreign residency, import wine to 141 
an amount not to exceed one hundred gallons, of which not more than 142 
twenty gallons shall be of the same brand and spirits not to exceed ten 143 
gallons of which not more than two gallons shall be of the same brand. 144 
[, after making application in each such case] 145 
(E) An individual importing alcoholic beverages under 146 
subparagraph (C) or (D) of this subdivision shall submit an application 147 
to the Department of Revenue Services and [presenting] present with 148 
the application a tax return prescribed by the Commissioner of 149 
Revenue Services and [reporting] report the taxes under this chapter 150 
and under chapter 219 for which the applicant is liable. Payment of 151 
such taxes shall accompany such application and tax return. A copy of 152 
the importation certificate issued by the Department of Revenue 153 
Services shall accompany each such shipment. 154 
(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply to alcoholic 155 
beverages [which] that are actually brought into the state by any 156 
individual in quantities of four gallons or less. 157 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 July 1, 2019 30-18a 
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 12-436(a) and (b) 
 
Statement of Purpose:   
To permit an out-of-state winery shipper's permit holder to ship wine 
directly to a consumer in the state and establish a maximum number of 
such permits allowed to be operative at any given time.  
 
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, 
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is 
not underlined.]