Marvin Mandel, Governor                       1743

son harboring a dog or dogs shall be termed the lawful owner of
same. Any salaried wildlife officer may kill any dog, which does
not bear a license, found destroying game, the nest, or eggs there-
of.

Any person may and it shall be the duty of any wildlife officer
or other officer of this State to humanely destroy any cat found
hunting or killing any bird or animal protected by law and no ac-
tion for damages shall be maintained for such killing.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1970.

Approved May 5, 1970

CHAPTER 612
(House Bill 818)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 453 of
Article 81 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Replacement
Volume), title "Revenue and Taxes," subtitle "State Tobacco Tax
Act," to provide that the Comptroller may in his discretion assess
a penalty of not more than 25% of the tax due when he believes that
the vendor or user has willfully or knowingly failed to pay the tax
imposed by this subtitle or to maintain certain records.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 453 of Article 81 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1969 Replacement Volume), title "Revenue and Taxes," subtitle
"State Tobacco Tax Act," be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted,
with amendments, to read as follows:

453.

Whenever the Comptroller shall find from an examination of the
records of any vendor or user of cigarettes or shall otherwise deter-
mine, that such vendor or user has had possession of unstamped
cigarettes upon which the tax imposed by this subtitle has not been
paid or that such vendor has failed to maintain the records required
by Sections 450 and 451, the Comptroller shall assess the amount of
tax imposed on that quantity of cigarettes plus interest at the rate
of ½ of 1 % per month from the date the tax was due until paid and
may in his discretion assess a penalty of not more than 25% of the
tax due when it appears that the vendor or user has willfully and
knowingly failed to pay the tax imposed by this subtitle or has will-
fully and knowingly failed to maintain the records required by Sec-
tions 450, AND 451. Such assessed tax and all increases, interest and
penalty thereon shall be a lien upon all of the property and rights
to property whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, of any
person so assessed, said lien shall be enforced in the same manner and
shall have the same effect as the liens provided for in Section 342(b)
of Article 81.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1970.

Approved May 5, 1970