139.30(8)(8) “Multiple retailer” means any person who acquires stamped cigarettes from manufacturers or permittees, stores them and sells them to consumers through 10 or more retail outlets which he or she owns and operates within or without this state. 139.30(8d)(8d) “Nonbonded direct marketer” means any person who acquires stamped cigarettes from the manufacturers or distributors, stores them, and sells them by direct marketing to consumers for their own personal use. 139.30(8m)(8m) “Pay” means mail or deliver funds to the department or, if the department prescribes another method of submitting or another destination, use that other method or submit to that other destination. 139.30(8p)(8p) “Person” includes any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or association. A single-owner entity that is disregarded as a separate entity under ch. 71 is disregarded as a separate entity for purposes of this subchapter. 139.30(9)(9) “Reservation” means all land within the boundaries of the Bad River, Forest County Potawatomi, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau, Menominee, Mole Lake, Oneida, Red Cliff, St. Croix and Stockbridge-Munsee reservations and the Winnebago Indian communities. 139.30(11)(11) “Secretary” means the secretary of revenue. 139.30(12)(12) “Sell” or “sale” includes the transfer, gift, barter, trade or exchange or any shift, device, scheme or transaction whereby cigarettes may be obtained and the solicitation of orders for, or the sale for, future delivery of cigarettes. 139.30(12m)(12m) “Sign” means write one’s signature or, if the department prescribes another method of authenticating, use that other method. 139.30(13)(13) “Stamp” means the authorized indicia of cigarette tax payment including water transfer stamps and heat applied stamps. 139.30(13m)(13m) “Trust lands” means any lands in this state held in trust by the U. S. government for the benefit of a tribe or a member of a tribe. 139.30(14)(14) “Vending machine” is any mechanical device which automatically dispenses cigarettes upon the deposit therein of specified coins in payment for such cigarettes. 139.30(15)(15) “Vending machine operator” means a person who acquires stamped cigarettes from manufacturers or permittees, stores them and sells them through the medium of vending machines which he or she owns, operates or services and which are located on premises which are owned or under the control of other persons. 139.30(16)(16) “Warehouse” means the premises where any person is lawfully engaged in the business of storing cigarettes for profit but shall not include the premises where common carriers store cigarettes which are received by them as common carriers and are in transit in interstate commerce. 139.31139.31 Tax imposed; exceptions. 139.31(1)(1) An excise tax is imposed on the sale, offering or exposing for sale, possession with intent to sell or removal for consumption or sale of cigarettes or other disposition for any purpose whatsoever. The tax is imposed at the time and place of the first taxable event occurring in this state. The tax shall be passed on to the ultimate consumer of the cigarettes. All cigarettes received in this state for sale or distribution within this state, except cigarettes actually sold as provided in sub. (3), shall be subject to such tax. Any person licensed under ch. 100 and this chapter to have untaxed cigarettes in his or her possession which are lost, stolen, destroyed or which have mysteriously disappeared shall be liable for and shall pay the tax thereon. The tax shall be at the following rates: 139.31(1)(a)(a) On cigarettes weighing not more than 3 pounds per thousand, 126 mills on each cigarette. 139.31(1)(b)(b) On cigarettes weighing more than 3 pounds per thousand, 252 mills on each cigarette. 139.31(1)(c)(c) In addition to the rate under par. (a), on cigarettes weighing not more than 3 pounds per thousand, on each cigarette 8 mills minus the tax imposed on that cigarette under 26 USC 5701, but not less than zero. 139.31(1)(d)(d) In addition to the rate under par. (b), on cigarettes weighing more than 3 pounds per thousand, on each cigarette, 16.8 mills minus the tax imposed on that cigarette under 26 USC 5701, except that if the cigarette is more than 6.5 inches in length it shall be taxed at the rate under par. (c) rather than at the rate under this paragraph, counting each 2.75 inches or fraction thereof of the length as one cigarette. The amount under this paragraph shall not be less than zero. 139.31(3)(3) Cigarettes sold to post exchanges of the armed forces of the United States and to federally operated veterans hospitals in this state and cigarettes sold to an interstate carrier of passengers for hire to be resold to bona fide passengers actually being transported and cigarettes sold for shipment outside this state in interstate commerce are not subject to the tax. 139.31(4)(4) No person may sell or distribute in this state, acquire, store, possess, or transport for sale or distribution in this state, import or cause to be imported into this state for sale or distribution in this state, or affix stamps as described under s. 139.32 to, any of the following: 139.31(4)(a)(a) A cigarette package on which a statement, label, stamp, sticker, or notice indicates that the manufacturer did not intend the cigarettes in the package to be sold, distributed, or used in the United States, including labels stating “for export only,” “U.S. tax exempt,” “for use outside U.S.,” or similar wording. 139.31(4)(c)(c) A cigarette package that has been altered as described in sub. (5). 139.31(4)(d)(d) Any cigarettes that are imported into the United States in violation of federal law. 139.31(5)(a)(a) No person may alter a cigarette package before the sale or distribution to the ultimate consumer so as to remove, conceal, or obscure any of the following: