WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

Ch. 2

tax stamps to cigarettes. Each distributor also was
licensed as a cigarette wholesaler.

To clarify the scope of a cigarette wholesaler
license, the Tax - General Article Review Committee
combined the licensing provisions for a cigarette
distributor, formerly in Art. 81, with the licensing
provisions for a cigarette wholesaler, formerly in
this article, and designated the licensee as a
"wholesaler" in this subtitle and in the Tax - General

Article. Therefore, Ch. ___, Acts of 1988, which

enacted the Tax - General Article, also amended §§ 63
through 73 of this article to allow a person who
obtains a cigarette "wholesaler license" to engage in
the business activities allowed under former Art. 81
and former Art. 56. The "wholesaler license fee" is
amended to state a $251 initial license fee and a $250
annual license renewal fee.

To conform to the terminology used in the Md.
Cigarette Sales Below Cost Act, CL §§ 11-501 through
11-510, and in the cigarette industry, the Tax
General Article Review Committee adopted the word
"subwholesaler" to mean a person who is licensed to
sell cigarettes to others for resale but may not buy
unstamped cigarettes without a specific authorization.

Ch. ___, Acts of 1988, also amended former §§ 63

through 73 — now §§ 607 through 631 — of this
article to allow a person who obtains a cigarette
"subwholesaler license" to perform only the activities
that formerly were allowed under this article.

The amended sections of this article now appear in
this new subtitle "Cigarette Licenses". Part II of
this subtitle, "Cigarette Business Licenses", contains
the restatement of former §§ 65 through 73 of this
article. Part III of this subtitle, "License to Make
Retail Sales of Cigarettes", contains the restatement
of former §§ 63 and 64 of this article.

611. CIGARETTE BUSINESS LICENSE REQUIRED; EXCEPTION; MULTIPLE
LICENSES.

(A) LICENSE REQUIRED.

(1) A PERSON SHALL BE LICENSED BY THE COMPTROLLER
BEFORE THE PERSON MAY:

(I)  ENGAGE IN THE BUSINESS OF A CIGARETTE
SUBWHOLESALER IN THE STATE;

(II)  ENGAGE IN THE BUSINESS OF A CIGARETTE
VENDING MACHINE OPERATOR IN THE STATE; OR

(III)  ENGAGE IN THE BUSINESS OF A CIGARETTE
WHOLESALER IN THE STATE.

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