§ 1530. Abandoned beverage container deposits
(a) As used in this section, “deposit initiator” means the first distributor or manufacturer to collect the deposit on a beverage container sold to any person within the State.
(b) Beginning on January 1, 2020, and quarterly thereafter, every deposit initiator shall report to the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Commissioner of Taxes. The report shall be submitted on or before the 25th day of the calendar month succeeding the quarter ending on the last day of March, June, September, and December each year. The deposit initiator shall submit the report on a form provided by the Commissioner of Taxes. The report shall include:
(1) the number of beverage containers sold in the preceding quarter and the number of beverage containers returned in the preceding quarter;
(2) the amount of beverage container deposits received by the deposit initiator;
(3) the amount of refund payments made in the preceding quarter; and
(4) any additional information required by the Commissioner of Taxes.
(c)(1) On or before January 1, 2020, and quarterly thereafter, at the time a report is filed pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, each deposit initiator shall remit to the Commissioner of Taxes any abandoned beverage container deposits from the preceding quarter. The amount of abandoned beverage container deposits for a quarter is the amount equal to the amount of deposits that the deposit initiator collected in the quarter less the amount of the total refund value paid out by the deposit initiator for beverage containers during the quarter.
(2) In any calendar quarter, the deposit initiator may submit to the Commissioner of Taxes a request for reimbursement of refunds paid under this chapter that exceed the amount of deposits collected in the quarter. The Commissioner of Taxes shall pay a request for reimbursement under this subdivision from the funds remitted to the Commissioner under subdivision (1) of this subsection, provided that:
(A) the Commissioner determines that the deposits collected by the deposit initiator are insufficient to pay the refunds on returned beverage containers; and
(B) a reimbursement paid by the Commissioner to the deposit initiator shall not exceed the amount paid by the deposit initiator under subdivision (1) of this subsection (c) less amounts paid to the initiator pursuant to this subdivision (2) in the previous four quarterly filings.
(3) Except as expressly provided otherwise in this chapter, all the administrative provisions of 32 V.S.A. chapter 151, including those relating to collection, enforcement, interest, and penalty charges, shall apply to the remittance of abandoned beverage container deposits.
(4) A deposit initiator may within 60 days after the date of mailing of a notice of deficiency, the date of a full or partial denial of a request for reimbursement, or the date of an assessment petition the Commissioner of Taxes in writing for a hearing and determination on the matter. The hearing shall be subject to and governed by 3 V.S.A. chapter 25. Within 30 days after a determination, an aggrieved deposit initiator may appeal a determination by the Commissioner of Taxes to the Washington Superior Court or the Superior Court of the county in which the deposit initiator resides or has a place of business.
(5) Notwithstanding any appeal, upon finding that a deposit initiator has failed to remit the full amount required by this chapter, the Commissioner of Taxes may treat any refund payment owed by the Commissioner to a deposit initiator as if it were a payment received and may apply the payment in accordance with 32 V.S.A. § 3112.
(d) The Secretary of Natural Resources may prohibit the sale of a beverage that is sold or distributed in the State by a deposit initiator who fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter. The Secretary may allow the sale of a beverage upon the deposit initiator’s coming into compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
(e) Data reported to the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Commissioner of Taxes by a deposit initiator under this section shall be confidential business information exempt from public inspection and copying under 1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(9) but shall not be confidential return information under 32 V.S.A. § 3102, provided that the Commissioner of Taxes may use and disclose such information in summary or aggregated form that does not directly or indirectly identify individual deposit initiators except to the Secretary of Natural Resources in relation to the administration of this chapter. (Added 2017, No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 4a, eff. May 30, 2018; amended 2019, No. 62, § 8, eff. June 17, 2019; 2019, No. 175 (Adj. Sess.), § 21, eff. Oct. 8, 2020.)