What each state expects from tobacco and vapor sellers.

What a compliance footprint is

A compliance footprint is the full set of registrations, licenses, returns and product listings a tobacco business must keep current because of what it sells, what role it plays and where its products go. Mapping it once makes deadlines predictable and shows what changes when you add a product line or a new state.

Selling into a new state: your own license or an in-state distributor

A cigar brand licensed in one state that wants retailers in another has two basic routes. It can become the distributor of record in the new state, holding the license and paying the tobacco tax itself, or it can sell to a distributor already licensed there and let that distributor bring the product in. A license in one state never carries over to another, and the right route differs from state to state.

The PACT Act for remote sellers

The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act amended the Jenkins Act (15 U.S.C. 375-378) so that anyone who ships covered products across state lines must register, report every shipment to the states, and follow strict delivery rules. Premium cigars and pipe tobacco are outside the Act, but a cigar business that also sells vapor, smokeless or roll-your-own products is covered for those products.

California's Unflavored Tobacco List

Since December 31, 2025, California treats any tobacco product brand style that is not on the Attorney General's Unflavored Tobacco List as a flavored product that cannot be sold in the state. Manufacturers and importers must list each brand style, pay per-style fees and renew every April, while qualifying premium cigars, loose-leaf pipe tobacco and shisha are outside the list.

Shipping tobacco and vapor to consumers

Selling online to adults across the US is legal for some products and effectively closed for others, depending on federal law, carrier policies and each destination state. Premium cigars sit outside the PACT Act and the USPS ban, but they still face age-21 rules, state licensing and tax, and limited carrier options.

EU-CEG for cigar makers outside the EU

Before a cigar can be sold anywhere in the European Union, product information must be submitted through the Commission's EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG) under Directive 2014/40/EU. For makers in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua or Honduras, the EU importer carries the main legal duty, and since 20 May 2024 cigars must also carry EU track-and-trace identifiers and security features.

California

Checked September 28, 2026

• 51.08%tobacco products tax on wholesale cost from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. No premium cigar cap.
• 12.5%California Electronic Cigarette Excise Tax (CECET) on the retail price of nicotine e-cigarettes.

Connecticut

Checked September 23, 2026

• 50%Tobacco products tax on the wholesale sales price, with the tax on each cigar capped at 50 cents.
• $3.00/ozSnuff is taxed by weight, including fractions of an ounce.

Florida

Checked September 28, 2026

• 0%Florida has no excise tax on cigars, because cigars are excluded from the state definition of tobacco products.
• 85%Pipe tobacco, roll-your-own and smokeless tobacco carry a 25% tax plus a 60% surcharge on the wholesale sales price.

Georgia

Checked September 28, 2026

• 23%Excise tax on cigars other than little cigars, based on wholesale cost price, with no premium cigar cap.
• 10%Excise tax on loose and smokeless tobacco, including pipe and roll-your-own tobacco, based on wholesale cost price.

Illinois

Checked September 28, 2026

• 45%Tax on the wholesale price of all tobacco products, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches since July 1, 2025.
• 15thMonthly Form TP-1 and TP-1-IL are due by the 15th of the following month, filed electronically.

Massachusetts

Checked September 28, 2026

• 40%Excise on the wholesale price of cigars, pipe tobacco and roll-your-own, with no cap for premium cigars.
• 210%Excise on smokeless tobacco; vapor products carry 75% of wholesale.

Nevada

Checked September 28, 2026

• 30%OTP tax on the wholesale price of cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless, RYO, vapor and synthetic nicotine products.
• 50¢Per-cigar cap on premium cigars (30 cent floor), which expires June 30, 2027.

New Hampshire

Checked September 28, 2026

• 65.03%Tax on the wholesale sales price of non-premium cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless and other tobacco products, with no per-cigar cap.
• $0Premium cigars (handmade, all natural leaf, over 3 lb per 1,000, kept in a humidor) are excluded from the tax since January 1, 2020.

New Jersey

Checked September 23, 2026

• 30%Tax on the wholesale price of cigars, pipe tobacco, RYO, chew, and other nicotine products, with no cap for premium cigars.
• $0.75/ozTax on moist snuff by net weight as listed by the manufacturer.

New York

Checked September 28, 2026

• 75%Tax on the wholesale price of cigars, pipe tobacco, RYO, chew, and nicotine pouches, with no cap for premium cigars.
• $0.2675Tax on each little cigar, the same per-stick rate as cigarettes; snuff is $2.00 per ounce.

North Carolina

Checked September 28, 2026

• 30¢Cigars are taxed at 12.8% of cost price, but never more than 30 cents per cigar.
• 5¢/mLVapor products are taxed at 5 cents per milliliter of consumable product.

Ohio

Checked September 28, 2026

• 17%of wholesale price on most tobacco products. Little cigars pay 37%.
• $0.67maximum tax per premium cigar from July 1, 2026. The cap adjusts every July 1.

Pennsylvania

Checked September 28, 2026

• $0Pennsylvania has no state excise tax on cigars; little cigars (not more than four pounds per thousand) are taxed as cigarettes.
• 40%Tax on e-cigarette devices and liquids, based on the price the retailer pays.

Rhode Island

Checked September 28, 2026

• 80%Tax on the wholesale cost of cigars, pipe tobacco, RYO, chew, and nicotine pouches.
• $0.50Maximum tax per cigar, reached at a wholesale cost of about $0.63.

Texas

Checked September 28, 2026

• $1.22per ounce on pipe tobacco, roll-your-own, snuff and chewing tobacco, with a 1.2 ounce minimum per package.
• $11 or $15per 1,000 on heavier premium cigars. The $11 rate requires an affidavit with the report.