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(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, the taxes imposed by Code Section 48-11-2 shall be collected and paid through the use of stamps. The commissioner shall secure stamps of such design and materials as the commissioner deems appropriate to protect the revenue and shall sell the stamps to licensed distributors at a discount of not less than 2 percent and not more than 8 percent of the value of the stamps. The exact percentage of the discount shall be based on brackets according to the volume of cigars, cigarettes, loose or smokeless tobacco, alternative nicotine products, and vapor products handled by the distributor pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner. The commissioner shall prescribe by regulation the condition, method, and manner in which stamps are to be affixed to containers of cigars, cigarettes, loose or smokeless tobacco, alternative nicotine products, and vapor products.
(b) The commissioner may prescribe by regulation an alternate method, in lieu of the sale of stamps, of collecting and paying the tax imposed upon cigars and little cigars. The commissioner may also prescribe by regulation an alternate method, in lieu of the sale of stamps, of collecting and paying the tax imposed on loose or smokeless tobacco, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products. Any such regulations shall be promulgated so that use of the alternate method will result in the same revenue to the state as the state would realize through the sale of stamps to the distributors.
(c) No distributor shall sell or exchange with another distributor any stamps issued pursuant to this chapter. The commissioner is authorized to redeem at cost price any stamps presented for redemption by a licensed distributor when the commissioner determines from physical inspection that no cigars, cigarettes, loose or smokeless tobacco, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products have been sold by the distributor under pretense of the tax imposed by this chapter having been paid through use of the stamps. History. Ga. L. 1955, p. 268, § 4; Ga. L. 1955, Ex. Sess., p. 48, § 1A; Ga. L. 1960, p. 125, § 2; Ga. L. 1964, p. 50, § 2; Ga. L. 1967, p. 563, § 5; Code 1933, § 91A-5503, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 2003, p. 665, § 20; Ga. L. 2020, p. 257, § 2/SB 375. The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, inserted “, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products,” and deleted “and” or “or” preceding “loose or smokeless tobacco” throughout this Code section and substituted “have” for “has” in the second sentence of subsection (c). Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2003, p. 665, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘State and Local Tax Revision Act of 2003.’ ” JUDICIAL DECISIONS Purpose of using stamps for collection. — Use of stamps, affixed to each pack of cigarettes affords every party in the chain of distribution a ready method of determining the exact amount of the tax paid by the distributor and which in turn is passed on to the ultimate retail consumer. In re Jim Clay Tobacco Co., 355 F. Supp. 274, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14769 (N.D. Ga. 1973). RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 71 Am. Jur. 2d, State and Local Taxation, §§ 434, 439, 492, 514 et seq.