Registration and Licensing
Registration for tobacco tax is available online on the Tennessee Taxpayer Access Point (TNTAP).
Federal law requires that anyone from another state who ships or transfers cigarettes into Tennessee must report those products with Tennessee. You will need to complete the PACT Act Tennessee Registration form either online through TNTAP or by completing the paper form and mailing the completed form to the Tennessee Department of Revenue. Note that if you are a Tennessee dealer that ships cigarettes into another state, you are required to register the products with that state.
If you sell, distribute, or handle cigarettes or other tobacco products at the wholesale level (i.e., not as a retailer selling to the consumer), regardless of whether you are subject to the tobacco tax or not, you must obtain a license to do so in Tennessee. Your license will expire on May 31 of each year and must be renewed prior to that date. Please register through TNTAP. Start on the Register a New Business page, then select Tobacco Tax, and answer the related questions.
The following licenses are available in Tennessee:
- Tobacco Distributor - $100
- Wholesale Dealer & Jobber - $200
- Manufacturing Distributor - $200
- Tobacco Manufacturer's Warehouse - $200
- Cigarette Rolling Machine Operator - $500 per machine