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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 Section 30-18a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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.]