Prepaid sales tax on cigarettes

Cigarette agents and other wholesalers must charge their customers the exact amount of sales tax previously paid on the cigarettes being sold. 

• If the cigarettes are stamped before September 1, 2026, pass through the tax at the prior prepaid sales tax rate.
• If the cigarettes are stamped on or after September 1, 2026, pass through the tax at the new prepaid sales tax rate. 

Every year, the Tax Department adjusts the base retail price of cigarettes using a factor based on manufacturers’ list prices for standard brand cigarettes sold by the carton.

Effective September 1, 2026, the base retail sales price is $16.503 for a pack of 20 cigarettes and $4.122 for each additional five cigarettes.

The prepaid sales tax is calculated by multiplying the base retail price by the 8% prepaid sales tax rate. The result is rounded to the nearest cent.

Therefore, the prepaid sales tax for a pack of 20 cigarettes is $1.32 ($16.503 x 0.08 = 1.32024, rounded to the nearest cent).

Note: The base retail sales price of cigarettes is used only for the prepaid sales tax calculation. It does not affect the cost of cigarettes or the minimum wholesale or retail sales prices set by the Cigarette Marketing Standards Act (New York State Tax Law Article 20-A).

With each delivery of cigarettes, sellers must certify the prepaid sales tax by providing purchasers with either:

• Form ST-133, Certificate of Prepayment of Sales Tax on Cigarettes; or
• an invoice containing all the information required on Form ST-133. 

Purchasers without these documents are liable for the prepaid sales tax.

Purchasers must keep these records for at least three years to support all credits claimed for prepaid sales tax. 

A credit or refund of prepaid sales tax may be claimed when cigarettes are:

• sold at retail, and sales tax is collected from the customer.
• sold to an exempt purchaser.
• withdrawn out of inventory for self-use and applicable use tax is paid.
• exported for sale or use outside New York State.
• destroyed or unfit for sale or use.
• sold to the United States government, its agencies or instrumentalities, or a voluntary unincorporated organization of the armed forces of the United States operating a post exchange.

A credit or refund may also be claimed if the prepaid sales tax was paid in error.

Retail sellers may claim a credit for prepaid sales tax on cigarettes when filing their sales and use tax returns through Sales Tax Web File.

To request a refund, sellers must use either:

• Form AU-11, Application for Credit or Refund of Sales or Use Tax; or
• Form CG-114, Claim for Redemption/Refund of Cigarette Tax Stamps and Prepaid Sales Tax.

Except for sales to the Oneida Indian Nation, all packs of cigarettes sold by wholesalers (including agents) to Indian nations, tribes, or reservation cigarette sellers must have New York State tax stamps (or joint New York State and New York City tax stamps, if applicable) affixed to them. The Oneida Indian Nation imposes its own taxes and applies its own tax stamps, so the cigarette packs sold to the Oneida Indian Nation do not require New York State tax stamps.

Wholesalers (including agents) must collect the prepaid sales tax on all packs of cigarettes for resale to:

• non-Indians, or
• nonmembers of an Indian nation or tribe.

Wholesalers (including agents) do not need to collect the prepaid sales tax on packs of cigarettes sold to Indian nations, tribes, or reservation cigarette sellers if they:

• are given Indian tax exemption coupons, or
• receive prior approval for the sale from the Tax Department.

Wholesalers (including agents) may request an expedited refund for qualifying Indian tax-exempt cigarettes by filing Form CG-114-E, Expedited Claim for Refund for Indian Tax-Exempt Cigarette Sales.

For more information on sales on reservations, see Sales of cigarettes to Indian nations, tribes, or reservation cigarette sellers. 

For information on sales made within the boundaries of the Oneida reservation, see Oneida Nation Settlement Agreement.

For more historical rates, see Important notices for the applicable year.

• Tax Law: §§ 1103, 1111(j), and 1121
• Memorandum: 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

For more information on minimum wholesale or retail sales prices, see Publication 508, Minimum Price List for Cigarettes, and Publication 509 Minimum Wholesale and Retail Cigarette Prices for Certain Standard Cigarette Brands.