The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
003
:
STAMP TAX
(Cite as: 32 V.S.A. § 7779)
-
§ 7779. Seizure
(a) Any cigarettes found at any place in this State without stamps affixed thereto as
required by this chapter or any tobacco products found at any place in this State
upon which the tax imposed by this chapter has not been paid, are declared to be contraband
goods and may be seized without a warrant by the Commissioner, the Commissioner’s
agents or employees, or by any peace officer of this State when directed by the Commissioner
to do so, unless such cigarettes or tobacco products shall be in the possession of
a licensed wholesale dealer, or unless they shall be in the course of transit and
consigned to a licensed wholesale dealer or a retail dealer, or unless they shall
have been received by a retail dealer within 24 hours. Nothing herein shall be construed
to require the Commissioner to confiscate unstamped cigarettes or tobacco products
when the Commissioner shall have reason to believe that the owner thereof has possession
of the same for personal consumption or is not willfully or intentionally evading
the tax imposed by this chapter.
(b) Any cigarettes found at any place in this State with stamps affixed thereto which
stamps have not been paid for as required by this chapter, are declared to be contraband
goods and may be seized without a warrant by the Commissioner, the Commissioner’s
agents or employees, or by any peace officer of this State when directed by the Commissioner
to do so.
(c) Any cigarettes or tobacco products seized under the provisions of this chapter shall
be destroyed by the Commissioner. The seizure of any cigarettes or tobacco products
under the provisions of this section shall not relieve any person from a fine or other
penalty for violation of this chapter. (Amended 1981, No. 31, § 15; 1995, No. 29, § 16, eff. April 14, 1995; 2001, No. 140 (Adj. Sess.), § 39.)