Sell one pack of cigarettes, one cigar, or one vape pod in Texas without the right permit, and the state can fine you up to $2,000 for that day, and again for every day after. Most owners don’t hear about that until it’s a problem. The license itself isn’t hard to get. What trips people up is that Texas does a few things differently: retail permits run on a two-year clock instead of one, vapes need their own permit, and three laws that took effect in September 2025 made some products that were already on shelves illegal to sell.
Below you’ll find what each permit costs in 2026, how to apply, what the September 2025 laws changed, and something most licensing guides leave out entirely: how to find a payment processor that will approve a tobacco shop and won’t shut the account down six months later.
Who Issues a Tobacco License in Texas? The Role of the Texas Comptroller
Just one agency, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. There are no separate health department licenses and no county boards to sign off. Both retail permits, the forms, and the renewals all go through the Comptroller’s Webfile system.
The Comptroller issues two kinds of retail permits:
- The Cigarette, Cigar and/or Tobacco Products Retailer Permit, which covers combustible and smokeless products.
- The E-Cigarette Retailer Permit, which covers vapes and the substances that go in them.
If you sell both, you need both. That catches a lot of convenience store owners off guard, since they assume one permit covers the whole back wall.
And before either one, you need an active Texas sales tax permit for each location. The Comptroller won’t issue a tobacco permit without it.
Who Needs a Tobacco License in Texas?
You need a retailer permit if you sell tobacco products to Texas customers, store them for sale, or ship them to Texas customers. In practice, that means:
- Convenience stores and gas stations
- Liquor stores and grocery stores carrying tobacco
- Vending machine operators (the Comptroller issues a decal for each registered machine)
- Online, phone, and mail-order sellers shipping into Texas
It also covers anyone selling from a vehicle, and anyone selling cigarettes, cigars, or tobacco products over the internet, by phone, or by mail order.
What Counts as a “Place of Business”
The permit is tied to an address, not to your company, so the application has to name the specific location name and street address. The Comptroller counts any place where tobacco products are sold, any place they’re stored or kept for sale, any vehicle they’re sold from, and any cigarette vending machine. A humidor counts too, if you own the cigars in it and sell them to the public.
Two places don’t count: a residence and a public storage unit. If your plan was to run an online cigar business out of a spare bedroom or a rented storage bay, that won’t work in Texas.
Vapes are a little stricter. An e-cigarette retailer permit can’t be issued for a vending machine, a residence, or a storage unit.
Tobacco License Texas Costs: The 2026 Fee Table
Retailer permits in Texas run two years, not one, which changes how you budget for renewals. These fees come straight from the Texas Comptroller’s permit fee schedules and are current for 2026.
| Permit type | Fee | Term |
| Cigarette, Cigar and/or Tobacco Products Retailer | $180 | Two years, June 1 to May 31 of even-numbered years |
| E-Cigarette Retailer (no existing tobacco permit) | $180 | Two years, same cycle |
| E-Cigarette Retailer (already hold a tobacco permit for that location) | $90 | Two years, same cycle |
| Distributor | $300 | Annual, March 1 to end of February |
| Manufacturer with Texas representation | $300 | Annual |
| Bonded agent | $300 | Annual |
| Wholesaler | $200 | Annual |
| Vehicle permit (distributors and wholesalers) | $15 | Annual |
| Importer | No fee | Annual |
| Manufacturer with no Texas representation | No fee | Annual |
| Export warehouse | No fee | Annual |
| Late renewal fee (any permit) | $50 | Charged when a renewal misses the due date |
The Two-Year Cycle, Explained Simply
A retailer’s permit is $180, whether it’s new or a renewal, and it covers a fixed two-year period that runs June 1 through May 31 of even-numbered years.
That means every retail tobacco permit in Texas expires on the same day, no matter when you opened. Your renewal date isn’t your anniversary date. Put May 31 of every even-numbered year on the calendar. The Comptroller mails a renewal packet ahead of time, and if you miss the due date, you pay a $50 late fee on top of the $180.
Opening Mid-Cycle? You Pay a Prorated Amount
Open partway through the cycle and you only pay for the months that are left. The Comptroller’s schedule starts at $180 in June of an even year and drops $7.50 a month down to $7.50 in the final month. There’s a catch at the very end, though: during the last three months of a cycle, the Comptroller can collect the prorated fee for the current period plus the full $180 for the next one.
So, if you apply in June of an even year, you pay $180 for a full two years. Apply in March, April, or May of an even year, and you’ll likely write one check that covers the stub period and the next cycle: the Comptroller’s table shows $202.50 for March, $195 for April, and $187.50 for May.
The Vape Permit Discount Most Retailers Miss
If you already hold the tobacco retailer permit for a location, the two-year e-cigarette retailer permit is $90 instead of $180. Order matters. Apply for both together, or the tobacco permit first, and the vape permit costs half. A store that files the vape application first and adds cigarettes later ends up paying more than it had to.
Two more things to know. The fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, and the Comptroller doesn’t refund anything if a location closes before the permit expires. And if you buy an existing store, the seller permit doesn’t come with it; you apply for your own.
How to Get a Tobacco License in Texas
Step 1: Form and Register Your Business Entity
Register your LLC, corporation, or partnership with the Texas Secretary of State and get an EIN from the IRS. A sole proprietor can use a Social Security number instead, but most retailers want an EIN anyway for the bank account.
Step 2: Get Your Texas Sales Tax Permit First
Do this one first. It’s essential, because the Comptroller won’t issue a tobacco permit for a location that doesn’t already have an active sales tax permit. Use Form AP-201 or apply through the Comptroller’s eSystems and Webfile portal. There’s no fee for the sales tax permit itself, though the Comptroller may require a security bond.
Step 3: File the Retailer Application
Apply through Webfile or mail in Form AP-193. Each store gets its own permit and its own fee, so two locations mean two applications. Fill in every field to meet the Comptroller’s review requirements; an incomplete submission comes back to you. Once the sales tax permit is active, a complete application usually takes about three days.
Step 4: File the E-Cigarette Application If You Sell Vapes
If you sell vapes, you also need the E-Cigarette Retailer Permit. File it through Webfile or on Form AP-242, and file it in the same session as the tobacco permit to get the $90 rate. One thing that surprises people: the state now treats any liquid or material vaporized in a device as an e-cigarette product, nicotine or not, so zero-nicotine e-liquid needs this permit too.
Step 5: Pay the Fee
The Comptroller’s office won’t issue the permit until it has both the application and the fee. Once it has them, and the sales tax permit is already active, processing usually takes about three days for the tobacco permit. The Comptroller says to allow four to six weeks for the e-cigarette permit. Don’t plan an opening date around that, though. The sales tax permit is the step that takes time.
Step 6: Post Your Permit and the Required Warning Sign
Texas requires a specific warning sign at the point of sale under Health and Safety Code Section 161.084. The statute says it has to be somewhere employees, and customers can all see it, close to where the products are sold. You don’t have to buy the sign; the Comptroller provides it free on request through its Retailer Forms and Publications page. Don’t print your own, because the wording is set by statute, and not posting it is a Class C misdemeanor.
Step 7: Document Your Employee Training
Retailers must use Form 69-117 (Cigarette, E-Cigarette and Tobacco Products Retail Employee Notification) to tell employees the law and get their signature saying they’ve been told. Keep the signed copy in each employee’s file. Every employee who sells tobacco or vape products has to sign one; stockroom-only staff don’t. Telling them verbally doesn’t count. If an inspector asks, the signed form is your proof.
What Changed on September 1, 2025
Three laws took effect on the same day, and the Comptroller gave sellers no runway. Its E-Cigarette Products New Legislation FAQ is the guidance that matters, and the rest of this section follows it. In the Comptroller’s words, enforcement of the amended Health and Safety Code sections (161.0876, 161.121, 161.122, and 161.124) began September 1, 2025, the day Senate Bills 1313, 1316, and 2024 took effect, with no grace period.
SB 2024: Prohibited Vape Products
Senate Bill 2024 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to sell, market, or advertise certain e-cigarette products. That covers anything containing cannabinoids, kratom, kava, mushrooms, tianeptine, or alcohol. It also covers packaging aimed at kids (cartoon characters, celebrities, candy or juice imagery) and devices built to look like something else: highlighters, pens, phones, earbuds, makeup, toys. And the definition of “e-cigarette product” now includes any liquid vaporized in a device, nicotine or not.
Country of origin matters too. If a pod or device is labeled as made in China or another foreign adversary (the Comptroller’s FAQ list as of April 2026: China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia), the Comptroller presumes it was manufactured there and it can’t be sold in Texas. The presumption can be overcome if the packaging unambiguously states the product was blended, poured, and packaged in a country that isn’t a designated foreign adversary.
Two points from the Comptroller’s FAQ are worth repeating. A label that says “made in compliance with SB 2024” doesn’t get you there on its own. And you can’t fix bad packaging by repackaging; the Comptroller says there is no way to alter non-compliant packaging so the product can be sold. You can still store it, though. Non-compliant products can sit in a Texas warehouse or 3PL waiting to ship out of state, as long as ownership doesn’t change while it’s here. One more thing: the Comptroller has warned about fake “SB 2024 compliance” letters making false claims about deadlines and enforcement, so check anything you receive against the Comptroller’s site before you respond.
SB 1313: Your Storefront Is Now Regulated
Senate Bill 1313 makes it a Class B misdemeanor for a tobacco, e-cigarette, or vape retailer to use signs, logos, or design marks aimed at minors in its marketing or sales. That means cartoon characters, knockoffs of kid-oriented trademarks, celebrity images, and anything that looks like food, candy, or juice. A food image on general storefront signage that doesn’t advertise tobacco is still allowed, but a sign that mentions smoke, vapes, or tobacco can’t also carry a cartoon, a food image, or a celebrity.
So, if the windows are covered in candy graphics, that’s a compliance problem now.
SB 1316: Advertising Near Schools and Churches
Senate Bill 1316 bans outdoor signs advertising e-cigarettes within 1,000 feet of a church or a public or private elementary or secondary school. A few details from the statute: the distance is measured from the church’s or school’s nearest property line to the point on the street closest to the sign, along street lines; “school” means an elementary or secondary school, so a stand-alone day care doesn’t count; and the rule covers outdoor signs visible from the street. Cigarette and tobacco ads were already restricted near those locations; this bill just added vapes.
Texas Tobacco Products Tax: What Retailers Should Know
You won’t pay most of these directly, because the distributor pays them before the product reaches you. You’ll see them in your cost of goods, though. Sales tax is the one you collect and remit yourself.
| Tax | Rate |
| Texas cigarette excise | $1.41 per pack of 20 (cigarettes of three pounds or less per thousand) |
| Federal cigarette excise | Roughly $1.01 per pack of 20 |
| Other tobacco products (smoking, chewing, snuff) | $1.22 per ounce |
| Small cigars (three pounds or less per thousand) | One cent per 10 cigars or fraction of 10 |
| Larger cigars | $7.50, $11, or $15 per thousand depending on price and non-tobacco content |
| Texas sales tax | 6.25% state, plus local rates |
Cigar tax depends on weight and factory list prices. Cigars weighing three pounds or less per thousand are taxed at a penny per 10. Heavier cigars pay $7.50, $11, or $15 per thousand depending on whether they sell for more than 3.3 cents each and how much non-tobacco material they contain. For tax purposes, the distributor owes the tax on the first sale in Texas. The other tobacco products rate of $1.22 per ounce hasn’t changed since September 2013, and a 25-count pack of cigarettes is taxed at $1.7625.
One thing Texas has going for it: no state excise tax on e-cigarettes, which several other states now charge. Vapes carry ordinary sales tax and nothing else. For a vape-focused shop that’s a real margin advantage, and it’s part of why operators keep moving in from states with vape taxes.
Penalties for Selling Without a Tobacco License in Texas
Texas doesn’t treat this as a paperwork slip.
What Happens If You Sell Tobacco Products Without a Permit
A retailer caught selling cigarettes, cigars, or tobacco products without a permit can be fined up to $2,000 and can face criminal charges, and every day without a permit counts as a separate violation. The same $2,000-a-day exposure applies to selling vapes without an E-Cigarette Retailer Permit.
Because it accrues daily, a store that opens two weeks before its permit arrives is looking at fourteen violations, not one.
Selling to a Minor: A Separate Penalty Track
Selling to a minor is handled separately. If the Comptroller’s office finds, after notice, that a permitted location sold cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, or tobacco products to a minor, it can suspend or revoke that location’s permit or impose an administrative penalty. Repeat violations escalate under Health and Safety Code Section 161.0901: up to $1,000 for the first in a 24-month window, $2,000 for the second, $3,000 and a suspension of up to five days for the third, and revocation for the fourth. A revoked location has to wait six months to reapply. If you require Comptroller-approved seller training and your staff has completed it, the Comptroller can suspend the permit instead of revoking it, as long as the location has no more than seven violations in 48 months, which is the main reason to pay for one.
And while the permit is suspended, rent, payroll, and distributor invoices keep coming due.
Age Verification, Signage, and Store Layout Rules
The legal age is 21. Senate Bill 21 raised it from 18 to 21 on September 1, 2019, for buying, selling, possessing, or using cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and tobacco products.
Texas law has two exceptions: someone 18 or older who is in the U.S. or state military and shows a military ID at the time of purchase, and anyone born on or before August 31, 2001. Federal Tobacco 21 has no such exceptions, and the Comptroller’s own FAQ says selling to anyone under 21 violates federal law, so most Texas operators just train staff to a flat 21 and skip the ambiguity.
Products stay behind the counter. Texas requires vendor-assisted sales, so self-service displays and open shelving for cigarettes, vapes, and tobacco are restricted under Health and Safety Code Section 161.086. A vending machine is only allowed where customers can’t reach it (behind the counter, with an employee completing the sale) or in a place that never lets anyone under 21 in. A lockout device or remote control doesn’t get you there.
No free samples to anyone, and no discount coupons to anyone under 21. Section 161.087 covers samples, coupons, and promotional items, and a violation is a Class C misdemeanor.
Certified seller training is available. Training companies get certified by the Comptroller on Form AP-192, Application for Seller Training Certification, and only approved programs count. Putting your employees through one is what preserves the suspension-instead-of-revocation option mentioned above.
Where Cities and Counties Fit In
Texas doesn’t have a second layer of local tobacco licensing the way some states do, but cities and counties aren’t shut out either. Under Health and Safety Code Section 161.089, a local rule stands if it’s at least as strict as state law or covers something state law doesn’t address. The one thing a city can’t do is set its own legal age for selling, distributing, or using cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or tobacco products.
In practice, what you’ll run into locally is zoning, the certificate of occupancy, sign permits, and fire code, not a second tobacco license. Check with the city before you sign a lease, not after.
One near miss worth knowing about: a 2025 bill that would have made it a crime to run a tobacco or vape store within 1,000 feet of a school. Senate Bill 464 passed the Senate but died in the House Calendars Committee when the session ended. Bills like that tend to come back, so treat school proximity as a real site-selection risk even though there’s no statewide ban today.
Selling Tobacco Online from Texas
Once you ship to customers, you’re dealing with federal law too. The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which was extended to vapes and e-liquids in March 2021, requires you to register with the ATF and with the tax authority in every state you ship to file monthly reports, and get an adult signature on delivery. The Postal Service won’t carry cigarettes or vapes, and the major private carriers restrict consumer tobacco deliveries, so you’ll be working with specialized couriers.
Texas adds its own rules. Cigarettes shipped to Texas customers need a Texas tax stamp on the pack, and PACT Act reports for Texas shipments go to the Comptroller by the 10th of the following month. Online sellers need the same retailer permits a storefront does, and the ship-from address can’t be a residence or a storage unit. Visit the Comptroller’s PACT Act reporting page for the report template and the filing email address.
How to Get Paid: Payment Processing for Texas Tobacco Shops
Plenty of stores get every permit approved and then find out no processor will board them. In our experience that’s where more tobacco owners get stuck, and it’s the part licensing guides skip.
Why Banks Classify Tobacco as High Risk
Acquiring banks sort tobacco retailers into high-risk merchant categories, usually MCC 5993 (cigar stores and stands), which also covers vape shops. That label has real consequences:
- Longer underwriting with more documentation
- Reserve requirements and slower access to funds
- Tighter chargeback thresholds
- Higher odds the account gets closed if your product mix shifts
Mainstream Platforms Often Prohibit Tobacco Outright
Most of the big consumer payment platforms prohibit or restrict tobacco and vape. Owners who sign up anyway often get the account closed after the first few transactions, with the balance held while the platform reviews it. Those platforms are built for low-risk ecommerce and simply don’t underwrite tobacco.
Card Brand Registration for Online and Phone Tobacco Sales
If you sell tobacco online or by phone, the card brands require you to be registered before you can take payments. Your processor files it; the brands renew it every year, and each one charges its own fee. Visa also has an Integrity Risk Program (VIRP) for card-absent tobacco sales, and in 2026 Mastercard added per-transaction and volume-based fees for registered tobacco merchants. A counter-only store that swipes cards in person generally isn’t subject to any of this.
Registration isn’t a one-time thing either. Processors periodically scan registered sites to confirm that age verification, PACT Act notices, and the required compliance language are still there. Lose them in a site redesign, and the registration can be pulled, and the account with it.
Warning Signs Your Account Is Fragile
- Your processor never asked what you sell during onboarding
- Nobody mentioned MCC 5993 or a high-risk designation
- Your agreement lists tobacco or vape under prohibited businesses
- You have no named contact for chargeback response
- You have one processor and no backup relationship
Your First 90 Days: A Compliance Framework
- Days 1 to 15. Form the entity, get the EIN, and file for the Texas sales tax permit at each location.
- Days 15 to 30. Once the sales tax permit is active, select the retailer permit, the e-cigarette permit, or both, and file them together in Webfile. Check your prorated fee against where you are in the cycle.
- Days 30 to 45. Start underwriting with a processor that already approves tobacco. It takes longer than most owners expect, and starting late pushes your opening.
- Days 45 to 60. Go through inventory against the September 2025 rules. Pull anything restricted, check origin statements on packaging, and have a look at your storefront graphics and window signs.
- Days 60 to 75. Set up age verification. Have the POS prompt on every tobacco SKU and get signed Form 69-117 acknowledgments from staff.
- Days 75 to 90. Request the warning signs, post the permits, walk the store like an inspector would, and write down what you found so you’re ready for the real thing.
Texas Compared with Stricter States
| Factor | Texas | Heavily regulated states |
| Licensing authority | Single state agency | Often state plus city and county |
| Retail permit cost | Modest, two-year term | Frequently higher and annual |
| Flavor restrictions | No statewide flavor ban | Menthol and flavor ban common |
| Vape excise tax | None currently | Percentage or per-milliliter taxes |
| Product restrictions | Strict since September 2025 on origin and additives | Varies widely |
| Local licensing layer | Limited, mostly zoning | Frequently a second license |
In short: Texas is cheaper and simpler on paperwork than most states, but strict about what you can sell and how you advertise it. The risk is in your inventory, not your fees. We also have a companion guide to Florida tobacco license requirements and costs for comparison.
Common Misconceptions About Tobacco Licenses in Texas
A few claims about Texas tobacco licensing keep showing up in search results, and AI answers even though they don’t match the Comptroller’s rules. Here’s the correct version of each.
“Tobacco licenses in Texas are valid for one year.” Not for retailers. Retail tobacco and e-cigarette permits run for two years, ending May 31 of even-numbered years. Only the non-retailer permits (distributor, wholesaler, manufacturer, bonded agent, importer) are annual.
“Texas offers three main types of tobacco licenses.” Close enough, if you group them the right way: the Cigarette, Cigar and/or Tobacco Products Retailer Permit, the E-Cigarette Retailer Permit, and the non-retailer permits for distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers, and bonded agents. Most store owners only ever need the first two.
“Approval for a tobacco license takes 2-4 weeks.” The Comptroller says about three days for a complete application, as long as the location already has its sales tax permit. E-cigarette permits take four to six weeks. The sales tax permit is what takes time, so start there.
“Monthly sales reports are due on the 25th of each month.” That’s the deadline for distributors and manufacturers filing tobacco tax reports. Retailers don’t file a monthly tobacco report at all. Online sellers shipping into Texas file PACT Act reports, and those are due by the 10th.
“Retailers must train employees on tobacco laws and keep acknowledgment records.” True. Every employee who sells tobacco or vape products signs Form 69-117, and the copy goes in their file. A Comptroller-approved seller training program on top of that can let the Comptroller suspend rather than revoke the permit after repeat violations.
“Texas bans e-cigarette products containing unauthorized additives.” True, as of September 1, 2025. SB 2024 bans e-cigarette products that contain (or claim to contain) cannabinoids, alcohol, kratom, kava, mushrooms, tianeptine, or their derivatives, plus kid-oriented packaging and anything made in China or another designated foreign adversary.
“Display your tobacco license prominently in your store.” True. Post the permit and the state warning sign near the register where staff and customers can see them and put the Comptroller’s decal on every vending machine. Not posting the sign is a Class C misdemeanor.
How AllayPay Helps Keep Your Payments Flowing
The permit itself is cheap and, once you know about the two-year cycle and the separate vape permit, it is easy to get. Staying open is the harder part: a clean permit record, compliant inventory, and a merchant account that doesn’t get shut down in the middle of your busiest month.
We place tobacco and cigar, vape, hookah, and CBD merchants with acquiring banks that actually underwrite these categories, in Texas and nationwide. Our agents do the underwriting paperwork, set up age-verified checkouts for online sellers, and stay on the account through inspections, ownership changes, and product changes.
Opening a Texas tobacco shop, or tired of a processor that won’t commit? Contact us today and talk to our team about a merchant account built for what you sell.
Texas Tobacco License FAQ
How much does a tobacco license cost in Texas?
The Cigarette, Cigar and/or Tobacco Products Retailer Permit is $180 for a full two-year cycle. The E-Cigarette Retailer Permit is also $180, or $90 if you already hold the tobacco permit for that location. Non-retailer permits cost more: $300 a year for distributors, manufacturers with Texas representation, and bonded agents, and $200 a year for wholesalers. Renew late and there’s a $50 fee.
How long is a Texas tobacco license valid?
Retailer permits run on a fixed two-year cycle, June 1 through May 31 of even-numbered years, and every retailer in the state renews on the same date no matter when the permit was issued. Non-retailer permits are annual, March 1 through the last day of February.
Do I need a separate tobacco license to sell vapes in Texas?
Yes. Vapes fall under a separate E-Cigarette Retailer Permit, filed under Form AP-242. A store that sells both cigarettes and vapes needs both permits. File them together and the vape permit drops to $90.
Do I need a tobacco license for each store location?
Yes. The permit goes with the place of business, so each retail location needs its own, and each location has to have an active Texas sales tax permit first.
Can I get a tobacco license in Texas at my home address?
No. The Comptroller doesn’t count a residence or a public storage unit as a place of business. E-cigarette retailer permits also can’t be issued for a vending machine, a residence, or a storage unit.
What happens if I sell tobacco without a license in Texas?
You can be fined up to $2,000 and face criminal charges, and every day you operate without a permit counts as a separate violation. That daily structure is what makes even a short delay expensive.
Is a Texas tobacco license transferable if I sell my business?
No. Permits don’t transfer, so a buyer can’t run the store on the seller’s permit and has to apply for a new one. The fee is also non-refundable, and there’s no refund for a location that closes before the permit expires. Build the new application into the closing timeline on any change of ownership or location.
What is the legal age to buy tobacco in Texas?
Twenty-one. Senate Bill 21 raised it from 18 on September 1, 2019. Texas law has two exceptions, active military members 18 or older with a military ID and anyone born on or before August 31, 2001, but federal Tobacco 21 has no such exceptions, so most retailers just train to 21.
What signage does a Texas tobacco retailer have to post?
A warning sign near the point of sale, where employees and customers can see it. The Comptroller provides it for free on request. You also have to post the permit itself and keep signed employee notification forms on file.
What did the September 2025 tobacco laws change?
Three bills took effect September 1, 2025, with no grace period. SB 2024 made it a Class A misdemeanor to sell certain e-cigarette products: those with cannabinoids, kratom, kava, mushrooms, tianeptine, or alcohol, those with youth-appealing packaging, and those presumed to be made in China or another designated foreign adversary. SB 1313 made youth-targeted signs, logos, and storefront designs a Class B misdemeanor. SB 1316 banned outdoor e-cigarette advertising within 1,000 feet of a school or church.
Can Texas cities add their own tobacco rules?
Partly. A city or county can regulate where its rule is at least as strict as state law or covers something state law doesn’t. It can’t set a different legal purchase age. Most of what you’ll deal with locally is zoning, occupancy, and sign permits, not a second tobacco license.
Can I sell tobacco online from a Texas location?
Yes, but it’s a lot more work. You need a Texas retailer permit, PACT Act compliance (ATF registration, registration in every state you ship to, monthly reports, adult signature on delivery), a Texas tax stamp on every pack of cigarettes, and card brand registration through your processor before you can take online payments.
How long does the Comptroller’s office take to issue a Texas tobacco license?
About three days for a complete tobacco retailer application with fees, if the location already has an active Texas sales tax permit. Allow four to six weeks for the e-cigarette permit. Get the sales tax permit first, then file the tobacco and e-cigarette applications together in Webfile.
What location name goes on a Texas tobacco permit?
The permit is issued to the legal business entity (and its DBA, if it has one) for one specific location name and street address. It isn’t a company-wide license. Every store, warehouse, vehicle, or fulfillment location gets its own, and moving to a new address means a new application.
Does Texas tax vape products?
Not with a dedicated excise tax. E-cigarettes and e-liquids just carry ordinary sales tax in Texas, unlike cigarettes ($1.41 per pack of 20) and other tobacco products ($1.22 per ounce), which have state excise taxes paid upstream by distributors.
