Tobacco Retailer Information | South Carolina Department of Revenue

Licensing requirements

Under South Carolina law, a tobacco “wholesaler” and a tobacco “distributor” are the same entity type.

Cigarette Tax Stamps

A retailer needs to apply for a Cigarette Tax Stamp license if one of the following applies:

Your business is selling stamped cigarettes through a vending machine.
Your business is selling stamped cigarettes to retail or wholesale businesses.

Do retailers have to apply for the Cigarette Tax Stamps license to sell cigarettes?: A retailer selling cigarettes to consumers does not need to apply for a Cigarette Tax Stamp license, unless you meet one of the two exceptions above. Retailers must purchase stamped cigarettes from a licensed SC tobacco distributor.

Other Tobacco Products

A retailer needs to apply for an Other Tobacco Products Tax license and is responsible for the excise tax due if one of the following applies:

Your business purchases untaxed tobacco products from an unlicensed tobacco distributor.
Your business is selling tobacco products to retail or wholesale businesses.

Do retailers have to apply for the Other Tobacco Products license to sell tobacco products?: A retailer does not need to apply for an Other Tobacco Products Tax license if your business purchases tax paid tobacco products from licensed South Carolina tobacco distributors for sale to individual consumers.

What are your licensing requirements based on your business type?

Retail businesses are not required to apply for a tobacco license if selling tax-paid tobacco products to individual consumers. However, you must apply for a Retail License to collect applicable Sales Taxes.
Wholesale businesses must apply for a tobacco license.

What are your licensing requirements based on your customer type?

If you’re selling stamped cigarettes to individual consumers, you are not required to apply for a Cigarette Tax Stamp license. However, you must apply for a for a Retail License to collect applicable Sales Taxes.
If you're selling to other retailers or wholesalers, you must apply for a Cigarette Tax Stamp and/or Other Tobacco Products license
If you're operating a vending machine, please refer to Cigarette Tax Stamps or Other Tobacco Products (OTP) for full licensing requirements.

What are your licensing requirements for vapor products?

You are not required to apply for an Other Tobacco Products license if purchasing and selling vapor products. You must apply for a Retail License to collect applicable Sales Taxes.

Note: You will be required to provide the name(s) of the company or companies you will be purchasing other tobacco products from when you apply for a tobacco license.

ACTIVE TOBACCO LICENSE SEARCH

Need help?

Phone: 803-896-1970
Email: TobaccoTax@dor.sc.gov

Filing requirements

A retailer who purchases South Carolina stamped cigarettes or other tobacco products for sale to individual consumers must:

have a Retail License when purchasing product from a licensed SC tobacco distributor.
charge the applicable sales tax on all retail sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
file a South Carolina Sales Tax return.
ensure the packs have a South Carolina cigarette tax stamp affixed when purchasing stamped cigarettes. Possession of unstamped cigarettes are contraband, subject to seizure and a penalty of $500 per pack.

Notification of Tobacco Sales

You must notify the SCDOR if you sell tobacco products. For retail sales, the definition of tobacco products includes but is not limited to cigarettes, products made of tobacco, electronic smoking devices, e-cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes, e-hookah, e-liquid, and tobacco items that may or may not contain nicotine.

Indicate that you sell tobacco products on the Business Tax Application when applying for your Retail License.

Retailers selling tobacco products that fail to notify the SCDOR are subject to fines and violations.

We recommend completing the Notification of Tobacco Sales using our free online tax portal, MyDORWAY.

If you have a MyDORWAY account, log in and select the More tab. On the next screen, click Notification of Tobacco Sales.
If you don’t have a MyDORWAY account, click Notification of Tobacco Sales, located in the Respond to the SCDOR panel on the MyDORWAY homepage. You’ll need to enter the Letter ID and FEIN or SSN listed on the ST-608.

Looking for more information on how to file and pay? Visit Cigarette Tax Stamps or Other Tobacco Products!

Mailing address:

South Carolina Department of Revenue | PO Box 125 | Columbia, SC 29214-0138