a. License required of wholesale and retail dealers.
1. It shall be unlawful for a person to engage in business as a wholesale or retail dealer without a license as prescribed in this section or subchapter one of chapter two of title twenty of the code, whichever is applicable.
2. It shall be unlawful for a person to permit any premises under such person's control to be used by any other person in violation of paragraph one of subdivision a of this section.
b. Application for license.
1. Wholesale tobacco license. In order to obtain a license to engage in business as a wholesale dealer, a person shall file application with the commissioner of finance for one license for each place of business that he or she desires to have for the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products in the city. Every application for a wholesale tobacco license shall be made upon a form prescribed and prepared by the commissioner of finance and shall set forth such information as the commissioner shall require. The commissioner of finance may, for cause, refuse to issue a wholesale tobacco license. Upon approval of the application, the commissioner of finance shall grant and issue to the applicant a wholesale tobacco license for each place of business within the city set forth in the application. Wholesale tobacco licenses shall not be assignable and shall be valid only for the persons in whose names such licenses have been issued and for the transaction of business in the places designated therein and shall at all times be conspicuously displayed at the places for which issued.
2. Retail tobacco license. In order to obtain a license to engage in business as a retail dealer, a person shall file an application with the commissioner of consumer and worker protection in accordance with the provisions of section 20-202.
c. Duplicate licenses. Whenever any license issued by the commissioner of finance under the provisions of this section is defaced, destroyed or lost, the commissioner of finance shall issue a duplicate license to the holder of the defaced, destroyed or lost license upon the payment of a fee of fifteen dollars. A duplicate retail dealer license may be obtained from the commissioner of consumer and worker protection as provided in section 20-204 of this code.
d. Suspension or revocation of licenses.
1. After a hearing, the commissioner of finance may suspend or revoke a wholesale tobacco license and the commissioner of consumer and worker protection, upon notice from the commissioner of finance, may suspend or revoke a retail tobacco license whenever the commissioner of finance finds that the holder thereof has failed to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter or any rules of the commissioner of finance prescribed, adopted and promulgated under this chapter.
2. The commissioner of finance may also suspend or revoke a wholesale tobacco license in accordance with the requirements of any other sections of this code or any rules promulgated thereunder which authorizes the suspension or revocation of a wholesale tobacco license.
3. The commissioner of consumer and worker protection may also suspend or revoke a retail tobacco license in accordance with the requirements of any other section of this code or any rules promulgated thereunder that authorize suspension or revocation of a retail tobacco license.
4. Upon suspending or revoking any wholesale tobacco license, the commissioner of finance shall direct the holder thereof to surrender to the commissioner of finance immediately all wholesale tobacco licenses or duplicates thereof issued to such holder and the holder shall surrender promptly all such licenses to the commissioner of finance as directed. Before the commissioner of finance suspends or revokes a wholesale tobacco license or notifies the commissioner of consumer and worker protection of a finding of a violation of this chapter with respect to a retail tobacco license pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subdivision, the commissioner of finance shall notify the holder and the holder shall be entitled to a hearing, if desired, if the holder, within ninety days from the date of such notification, or if the commissioner of finance has established a conciliation procedure pursuant to section 11-124 and the taxpayer has requested a conciliation conference in accordance therewith within ninety days from the mailing of a conciliation decision or the date of the commissioner's confirmation of the discontinuance of the conciliation proceeding, both (A) serves a petition upon the commissioner of finance and (B) files a petition with the tax appeals tribunal for a hearing. After such hearing, the commissioner of finance, good cause appearing therefor, may suspend or revoke the wholesale tobacco license, and, in the case of a retail tobacco license, notify the commissioner of consumer and worker protection of a violation of this chapter or any rules promulgated thereunder. Upon such notification, the commissioner of consumer and worker protection may suspend or revoke a retail tobacco license as provided in subdivision b of section 20-206. The commissioner of finance may, by rule, provide for granting a similar hearing to an applicant who has been refused a wholesale tobacco license by the commissioner of finance.
e. Prohibited sales and purchases. No agent or dealer shall sell cigarettes or tobacco products to an unlicensed wholesale or retail dealer, or to a wholesale or retail dealer whose license has been suspended or revoked. No dealer shall purchase cigarettes or tobacco products from any person other than a manufacturer or a licensed wholesale dealer.
f. Retail dealers. The commissioner of finance may, after hearing, issue an order prohibiting a retail dealer from selling cigarettes, for such period as the order shall specify, for failure to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter or any rules or regulations of the commissioner of finance prescribed, adopted and promulgated under this chapter.
g. License fees; numbering and registering of licenses; term.
1. The annual fee for a wholesale dealer's license shall be six hundred dollars, and the annual fee for a retail dealer's license shall be as provided in subdivision c of section 20-202.
2. Wholesale tobacco licenses shall be regularly numbered and duly registered.
3. Wholesale tobacco licenses shall expire on January thirty-first next succeeding the date of issuance unless sooner suspended or revoked.
(Am. L.L. 2017/145, 8/28/2017, eff. 6/1/2018; Am. L.L. 2020/080, 8/28/2020, eff. 8/28/2020)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1987/034, L.L. 1991/052, L.L. 1992/083, L.L. 1998/003, L.L. 2000/002, L.L. 2017/145 and L.L. 2020/080.