BILL NUMBER: S6206
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to the measurement of liquor
for tax purposes
 
PURPOSE:
This bill changes the unit of measurement for alcohol related taxation
from liters to gallons, making technical amendments to provide for such
a change.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: amends subdivision 1 of section 421, as amended by chapter
508 of the laws of 1993, by removing all reference to liters when deter-
mining who is considered a distributor, and replacing such reference
with units measured in gallons.
Section 2: amends paragraphs (e), (f) and (g) of subdivision 1 of
section 424 of the tax law, by removing all reference to liters when
determining rates of the excise tax, and replacing such reference with
units measured in gallons, and by removing the listed tax amount,
replacing with a new amount equal to the conversion from liters to
gallons.
Section 3: amends section 425-a of the tax law, as added by chapter 508
of the laws of 1993, by changing from liters to gallons the measurement
under which a presumption of taxation by the state is established.
Section 4: amends section 426 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 891
of the laws of 1986, by changing from liters to gallons the measurements
that establish a requirement of record keeping by brand owners or
distributors.
Section 5: amends subdivision 1 and paragraph (i) of subdivision 2 of
section 427 of the tax law, as added by chapter 508 of the laws of 1993,
by changing from liters to gallons the measurements over which a seller
of liquor must invoice each sale, and changing the unit of measurement
that must be included on each invoice from liters to gallons.
Section 6: amends subdivision 2 of section 428 of the tax law, as added
by section 508 of the laws of 1993, by changing from liters to gallons
the unit of measurement over which transporters of alcohol must possess
a manifest or invoice of the items being transported.
Section 7: amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 429 of the tax law, as
amended by chapter 433 of the laws of 1978, by changing the unit of
measurement from liters to gallons of wine and liquor that distributors
of must use when reporting units sold or used for the purposes of taxa-
tion, creating uniformity with the measurements used when reporting
sales of beer.
Section 8: amends paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 and subdivision 2 of
section 445 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 433 of the laws of
1978, by changing the unit of measurement used when computing local
taxes from liters to gallons, and changes the amount taxed to reflect
the conversion to gallons.
Section 9: amends subdivisions (e), (f), and (g) of section 1813 of the
tax law, as amended by section 27 of subpart I of part V1 of chapter 57
of the laws of 2008, by changing the unit of measurement, from liters to
gallons, used when determining whether an individual has committed a
crime by not registering as a distributor.
Section 10: amends subdivisions (a), (k) and (1) of section 1845 of the
tax law, as added by chapter 508 of the laws of 1993, by changing the
unit of measurement, from liters to gallons, used when determining
whether seizure and forfeiture of liquors by the police or government is
appropriate.
Section 11: sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current tax law, the unit of measurement used in determining tax
rates and other applicable regulations for reporting alcohol sales and
other information is not consistent. State law requires liquor records
in liter measurements, while federal law requires similar requirements
in proof gallon measurements. These different requirements create an
undue burden on these businesses to keep records in multiple formats.
Then, they must rely this information to similar entities of state and
federal tax agencies, but in very different calculations.
There is not a justifiable reason for the different measurements and
streamlining this record and reporting system will ease a burden on many
small businesses in New York. This legislation will ease production
tracking, which will ease the tax response process to local, state, and
federal governments.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: Senate
2015: N/A
2016: S6295, Referred to investigations and government operations
2017: S1831, Referred to investigations and government operations
2018: S1831, Referred to investigations and government operations
2019: S757, Referred to investigations and government operations
2020: S757, Referred to investigations and government operations
2021: S3863, Referred to investigations and government operations
2022: S3863, Referred to investigations and government operations
2023: S6515, Referred to investigations and government operations
2024: S6515, Referred to investigations and government operations
Assembly
2015: N/A
2016: N/A
2017: N/A
2018: N/A
2019: A6637, Referred to ways and means
2020: A6637, Referred to ways and means
2021: N/A
2022: N/A
2023: N/A
2024: N/A
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

Statutes affected:
S6206: 421 tax law, 421(1) tax law, 425-a tax law, 426 tax law, 428 tax law, 428(2) tax law