SB 1067 - This act imposes an excise tax on specified controlled substances possessed, transported, transferred, sold, or offered to be sold in violation of Missouri law by dealers. A "controlled substance" is defined as any drug, substance, or immediate precursor placed in Schedules I through IV, as specified in the act, but not any drug, substance, or immediate precursor possessed by any individual with a prescription from an authorized practitioner. The tax shall be paid by any "dealer," defined as any person who actually or constructively possesses more than 35 grams of marijuana or one or more marijuana plants, one or more grams of any other unauthorized substance that is sold by weight, or one or more dosage units of any other unauthorized substance that is not sold by weight.
The tax rates for each controlled substance and the criteria for measuring weight or dose is specified in the act.
The tax does not apply to a substance in the possession of a dealer who is authorized by law to possess the substance. This exemption only applies during the time the dealer's possession of the substance is authorized by law.
The Director of the Department of Revenue shall issue stamps to affix to unauthorized substances to indicate payment of the tax. Upon payment of the tax, the director shall issue stamps in an amount equal to the amount of the tax paid. Taxes shall be paid and stamps issued either by mail or in person.
Every law enforcement agency shall report to the department within 48 hours after seizing an unauthorized substance or making an arrest of an individual in possession of an unauthorized substance that does not have a stamp affixed.
A notice of assessment and demand for payment shall be either mailed to the dealer at the dealer's last known address or served on the dealer in person. The Drug Task Force Enforcement Fund is created and shall consist of funds collected by the tax. The department director shall credit the proceeds of the tax levied to the fund until the tax proceeds are unencumbered. The State Treasurer shall remit the unencumbered tax proceeds on a quarterly or more frequent basis as specified in these provisions.
The State Treasurer shall first apply the unencumbered tax proceeds to the costs of storing and disposing of the assets seized in payment of the assessment. The treasurer shall remit the remaining unencumbered tax proceeds that are collected by assessment to the Department of Revenue, and the county drug task force and local sheriff's department where the drugs were seized. The percentages for each department and specific uses of the proceeds are provided in the act.
If the tax levied is voluntarily paid to the Department of Revenue, without an investigation or arrest, the tax shall be considered unencumbered and the director shall credit the entire tax proceeds to the General Revenue Fund.
The provisions of the act shall not be construed to confer any immunity from criminal prosecution or conviction for a violation of these provisions or the controlled substances laws of this state, upon any individual who voluntarily pays the tax or who otherwise complies with the provisions of the act.
The Unauthorized Substance Tax Commission is established to review the rates of the tax levied and to make recommendations concerning increases in the rate of the tax to the General Assembly.
This act is substantially similar to HB 2160 (2016) and HB 1138 (2015).
DOMENIC SITA