139.06 AnnotationThe plaintiff in this case bought various distilled spirits in bulk from a distillery and mixed the distilled spirits with soda, water, and various flavorings to produce bottles of premixed cocktails that the plaintiff sold to liquor wholesalers, who sold them to retailers. In this case, the first taxable sales of intoxicating liquors under sub. (1) (b) were sales by the plaintiff of its bottled mixtures to the plaintiff’s wholesaler customers. Section 139.04 (4) excludes from consideration all transactions between the plaintiff and its distiller. Also, the entire volume of each bottle was an intoxicating liquor, each liter of which was subject to the intoxicating liquor occupational tax. Arty’s, LLC v. DOR, 2018 WI App 64, 384 Wis. 2d 320, 919 N.W.2d 590, 17-0886.

139.08(1)(1) Administration; personnel. The secretary of revenue shall administer ss. 139.01 to 139.25 and collect and keep a record of all taxes collected.

139.08(2)(2) Rules. The secretary of revenue shall adopt rules necessary to carry out the secretary’s duties under this chapter.

139.08(3)(3) Police powers. The department shall enforce and the duly authorized employees of the department shall have all necessary police powers to prevent violations of s. 134.65 and this subchapter.

139.08(4)(4) Inspection for enforcement. Duly authorized employees of the department of justice and the department of revenue and any sheriff, police officer, marshal, or constable, within their respective jurisdictions, may at all reasonable hours enter any licensed premises, and examine the books, papers, and records of any brewer, brewpub, manufacturer, bottler, rectifier, wholesaler, or retailer, for the purpose of inspecting the same and determining whether the tax and fee imposed by ss. 139.01 to 139.25 have been fully paid, and may inspect and examine, according to law, any premises where fermented malt beverages or intoxicating liquors are manufactured, sold, exposed for sale, possessed, or stored, for the purpose of inspecting the same and determining whether the tax imposed by ss. 139.01 to 139.25 has been fully paid, and whether ss. 139.01 to 139.25 are being complied with. Any refusal to permit such examination of such premises is sufficient grounds under s. 125.12 for revocation or suspension of any license or permit granted for the sale of any fermented malt beverages or intoxicating liquors and is punishable under s. 139.25 (10).

139.08(5)(5) Retention of certain records. Notwithstanding any retention schedule established for the department’s records under s. 16.61, the department shall retain for 3 years after receipt by the department all reports submitted to the division under ss. 125.22 (2) and 125.23 (5) and all records received by the division relating to these reports.

139.09139.09 Registration. Every brewer, brewpub, bottler, manufacturer, rectifier, wholesaler, or retailer liable for payment of the occupational tax imposed in ss. 139.01 to 139.25 shall hold a valid certificate under s. 73.03 (50). The secretary shall assign the person a registration number.

139.092139.092 Audits; additional assessments; refunds. Sections 71.74 (1), (2), (10), (11), (13) and (14), 71.75 (2), (4) to (7) and (10), 71.77 and 71.80 (12) as they apply to the taxes under ch. 71 apply to the taxes under this subchapter, except that the period during which notice of an additional assessment shall be given begins on the due date of the report under this subchapter.

139.096139.096 Failure to file. If any taxpayer required to file any return fails to do so within the time prescribed, the taxpayer shall, on the written demand of the department, file the return within 20 days after the department sends the demand and at the same time pay the tax due on its basis. If the taxpayer fails within that time to file the return, the department shall prepare the return from the department’s own knowledge and from the information that the department obtains and on that basis shall assess a tax that the taxpayer shall pay within 10 days after the department sends to the taxpayer a written notice of the amount and a demand for its payment. In any action or proceeding in respect to the assessment, the taxpayer has the burden of establishing the incorrectness or invalidity of any return or assessment made by the department because of the failure of the taxpayer to file a return.

139.10(1)(1) On the certificate of the secretary, the secretary of administration shall refund to any purchaser or any banking institution in Wisconsin the tax paid on intoxicating liquor or on whole cases or full kegs of fermented malt beverages which are spoiled or unfit to drink and the tax paid on fermented malt beverages sold to the U.S. armed forces or the secretary may make allowance of the amount of the tax.

139.10(2)(2) When the tax has been paid on intoxicating liquor supplied to hospitals for hospital or medicinal purposes, or on alcohol supplied to institutions of learning or museums for nonbeverage purposes, the purchaser shall, upon application to the secretary, be entitled to a refund of the tax.

139.10(3)(3) The secretary shall prescribe the method of proof and the forms of application for refund or allowance.

139.11(1)(1) Preservation of records. Every person who manufactures, rectifies, distributes, imports, transports, stores, warehouses, or sells intoxicating liquor or fermented malt beverages shall keep complete and accurate records of all such liquor or malt beverages purchased, sold, manufactured, rectified, brewed, fermented, distilled, produced, stored, warehoused, imported, or transported within this state. Such records shall be of a kind and in the form prescribed by the secretary and shall be safely preserved to ensure accessibility for inspection by the secretary or by the division as provided in s. 125.025 (3). A person required to keep records under this subsection may keep such records in electronic form only. Any common carrier or fulfillment house required to submit reports under s. 125.22 or 125.23 shall maintain, for 3 years, all records related to the reports or otherwise required to be kept under this subsection.

139.11(2)(2) Report. Each brewer, brewpub, bottler, manufacturer, rectifier, and wholesaler shall on or before the 15th day of each calendar month or the dates prescribed by the secretary file a verified report of all fermented malt beverages or intoxicating liquor manufactured, received, sold, delivered, or shipped by him or her during the preceding calendar month, except that the department may allow wholesale, winery, and out-of-state shipper permittees whose tax liability is less than $500 per quarter to file on a quarterly basis. Quarterly reports shall be filed on or before the 15th of the next month following the close of the calendar quarter.

139.11(2m)(2m) Timely filing. The provisions on timely filing under s. 71.80 (18) apply to the tax under this subchapter.

139.11(3)(3) Secretary’s powers. When the secretary finds that the records kept by any brewer, brewpub, bottler, manufacturer, rectifier, wholesaler, or retailer are in such condition that an unusual amount of time is required to determine therefrom the amount of tax due, the secretary may give notice of such fact to such person and may require the records to be kept in such form as the secretary prescribes. If such requirements are not complied with within 30 days after the date of the notice, the brewer, brewpub, bottler, manufacturer, rectifier, wholesaler, or retailer shall pay the expenses reasonably attributable to the determination of tax at the rate of $30 per day for each auditor. The secretary shall render a bill therefor by registered mail to the person charged with payment at the conclusion of the audit, which bill shall constitute notice of assessment and demand of payment thereof. The brewer, brewpub, bottler, manufacturer, rectifier, wholesaler, or retailer shall, within 10 days after the mailing of the bill, pay its amount, and such payment shall be credited to the appropriation made in s. 20.566 (1) (a).