Cigarette and tobacco products tax: Filing requirements and license and registration renewal
General information: Effective September 1, 2026, the New York State tobacco products tax is extended to alternative nicotine products. Alternative nicotine products are generally products that contain nicotine, but not tobacco, and are intended for human consumption.
The tax is imposed at the rate of 75% of the wholesale price of the product and is generally paid by the distributor. However, wholesale dealers and retail dealers selling alternative nicotine products are liable for the tax on these products in their possession if the tax has not been paid by a distributor.
Registration requirements: By September 1, 2026, distributors, wholesale dealers, and retail dealers that currently import or sell alternative nicotine products in New York State must obtain a license or registration to sell tobacco products, unless they are already licensed or registered with the Tax Department to sell tobacco products.
Floor tax: Any business selling alternative nicotine products must:
- take an inventory of the units of alternative nicotine products in their possession as of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on August 31, 2026, and
- file Form MT-200.5, Alternative Nicotine Products Floor Tax Return, and pay the floor tax due by September 21, 2026.
For additional information, see:
- N-26-2, Alternative Nicotine Products Subject to Tobacco Products Tax and Floor Tax Due.
- MT-200.5 and MT-200.5-I, Instructions for Form MT-200.5.
Any person who possesses cigarettes or other tobacco products in New York State for sale is required to be licensed by the Tax Department and may be required to file periodic returns or reports. This section identifies the returns and reports that are required and provides information on renewing licenses and registrations.
Cigarettes
Cigarette retail dealers
Return information
As a cigarette retail dealer, you are not required to file excise tax returns or inventory reports. However, you must file periodic sales tax returns and remit sales tax. For more information, see Tax Bulletin Filing Requirements for Sales and Use Tax Returns (TB-ST-275).
Registration renewal requirements
Application
Each year between September 1 and September 20, you must log in to your Tax Department Business Online Services account to renew your registration for the following year.
To renew:
- Select the ≡ Services menu in the upper left-hand corner of your Account Summary homepage.
- Select Registrations and account updates, then select Business registrations from the expanded menu.
- Select Actions at the end of your current registration row, then select Renew.
Due date and fees
You must file your registration renewal between September 1 and September 20 to renew your registration for the following calendar year. The registration renewal fees are:
- $300 for each retail location
- $100 for each vending machine
Cigarette wholesale dealers
Return information
As a cigarette wholesale dealer, you must file a quarterly informational return, using your Business Online Services account. You are required to report sales information for cigarettes, tobacco products, and non-cigarette items.
To file a return, see Filing requirements for cigarette wholesale dealers.
Due date
You must file the return quarterly. It is due no later than the 20th day of the month following the end of the quarter.
License renewal requirements
You are generally not required to renew your wholesale cigarettes dealer’s license. However, the Tax Department may periodically require all wholesale dealers to surrender their licenses and apply for a new license. This cannot occur more often than once every three years.
Cigarette agents
Return information
As an agent, you are required to file inventory reports with the Tax Department. Nonresident agents are required to file Form CG-5, Nonresident Agent Cigarette Tax Report, and resident agents must file Form CG-6, Resident Agent Cigarette Tax Report. You must report the number of stamped and unstamped cigarettes sold and the number of tax stamps used and those remaining in inventory.
Agents are also required to pay prepaid sales tax on any cigarettes they possess in the state and to pass the prepaid sales tax on to the purchaser. For more information, see Form ST-133, Certificate of Prepayment of Sales Tax on Cigarettes.
On September 1 each year, the amounts of prepaid sales tax on cigarettes are subject to change. We will notify you of any changes in these amounts.
Due date
You must file your inventory report monthly. It is due on or before the 15th day of the following month.
Agent certification requirements
Each April, every manufacturer whose cigarettes or roll-your-own tobacco you sell for consumption in New York State must provide you with Form CG-30, Certification of Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement Status, to certify that it is in compliance with that agreement. For more information, see Form CG-30-I.
On or before September 1 of each year, you must provide Form CG-213, Cigarette Stamping Agent Certification of Compliance with Tax Law Article 20, to any manufacturer or other person whose cigarettes you purchase for resale in New York State to certify that you will not resell the cigarettes in violation of the Tax Law. You must also provide Form CG-213 to the Tax Department. For instructions, see Form CG-213-I.
Registration renewal requirements
Similar to wholesale dealers, agents are generally not required to renew their license. However, the Tax Department may periodically require all agents to surrender their licenses and apply for a new license. This cannot occur more often than once every three years.
Tobacco products
Tobacco products distributor
Return information
As a distributor of tobacco products, you must file the following forms and pay any tax due:
- Form MT-203, Distributor of Tobacco Products Tax Return,
- Form MT-203-S, Distributor of Tobacco Products Information Schedules, and
- Form MT-203-ATT, Information on Roll-Your-Own Cigarette Tobacco Manufactured or Imported by a Distributor.
The forms listed above must be filed even if you had no sales during the period.
Note: If you are an appointed out-of-state distributor, you are not required to complete Form MT-203-S. For more information, see Form MT-203-I, Instructions for Form MT-203.
Due date
Form MT-203 must be filed monthly. It is due on or before the 20th day of the following month.
Renewal requirements
You are generally not required to renew your appointment as a distributor of tobacco products. However, the Tax Department may periodically require all distributors of tobacco products to re-apply for appointment. This cannot occur more often than once every three years.
Tobacco products retail dealers
Return information
As a retail dealer of tobacco products, you are not required to file excise tax returns or inventory reports. However, you are liable for the tobacco products tax on all tobacco products in your possession at any time, unless the tax has already been paid or assumed by a tobacco products distributor.
You are required to file periodic sales tax returns and remit sales tax. For more information, see Tax Bulletin Filing Requirements for Sales and Use Tax Returns (TB-ST-275).
Registration renewal requirements
Application
Each year between September 1 and September 20, you must log in to your Tax Department Business Online Services account to renew your registration for the following year.
To renew:
- Select the ≡ Services menu in the upper left-hand corner of your Account Summary homepage.
- Select Registrations and account updates, then select Business registrations from the expanded menu.
- Select Actions at the end of your current registration row, then select Renew.
Due date and fees
You must file your registration renewal application between September 1 and September 20 to renew your registration for the following calendar year. The registration renewal fees are:
- $300 for each retail location
- $100 for each vending machine
Tobacco products wholesale dealer
Return information
As a wholesale dealer of tobacco products, you are required to file Form MT-203-W, Wholesale Dealer of Tobacco Products Informational Return, unless you are:
- licensed only to operate vending machines, or
- appointed or required to be appointed as a distributor of tobacco products by the Tax Department (see Form MT-203-W-I, Instructions for Form MT-203-W, for more information on this requirement).
Due date
The return is due quarterly. You must file it on or before the 20th day of the month following the end of the previous quarter.
License renewal requirements
You are generally not required to renew your tobacco products wholesale dealer’s license. However, the Tax Department may periodically require all wholesale dealers to surrender their licenses and apply for a new license. This cannot occur more often than once every three years.
Resources
For more information
- Cigarette and tobacco products tax forms and instructions (current year) or (prior years and periods)
- Cigarette and tobacco products tax TSB-Ms
- Cigarette and tobacco products publications and tax bulletins
- Registered Retail Dealers of Cigarettes and Tobacco Products and Vapor Products
- Licensed Cigarette Stamping Agents, Wholesale Dealers of Cigarettes, Distributors of Tobacco Products and Licensed Wholesale Dealers of Tobacco Products
Important developments
- Oneida Nation Settlement Agreement
- TSB-M-14(1)M, (4)S, Federal Court Ratifies Settlement Agreement by the Oneida Nation, the State of New York, the County of Madison and the County of Oneida
- Sales of cigarettes to Indian nations, tribes, or reservation cigarette sellers
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