E-Cigarettes

• Licensing and Returns
• E-cigarette Distributor Registry
• E-cigarette Product Registry
• E-cigarette Manufacturers

Licensing and Returns

Wholesalers, distributors and retailers of electronic cigarette and nicotine products must be licensed by the Utah State Tax Commission in addition to required local licenses. There is no licensing fee for entities that handle e-cigarette products and nicotine products.

Anyone importing e-cigarette substances or prefilled electronic cigarettes must pay tax on those products upon first receipt in Utah. The tax rate is 56 percent of the manufacturer’s sales price and must be paid electronically. Form TC-553, Tobacco Products Tax Return, must be filed electronically on a quarterly basis using Taxpayer Access Point.  For more information, see Utah Code §59-14-805(2).

E-cigarette Distributor Registry

Effective July 1, 2024, e-cigarette products must be purchased from a licensed distributor. The commission maintains a list of licensed distributors that can be found on Taxpayer Access Point under Electronic Cigarette Tools. The commission may impose a penalty against a retailer that purchases an e-cigarette product or a nicotine product from a person other than a licensed distributor. For more information, see Utah Code §59-14-803.5.

E-cigarette Product Registry

Beginning January 1, 2025, a person may not sell or offer for sale an electronic cigarette product in this state that is not included on the Electronic Cigarette Product Registry. A manufacturer may not sell, either directly through a distributor, wholesaler, retailer, or similar intermediary or intermediaries, an electronic cigarette product in this state that is not included in the registry. The Electronic Cigarette Product Registry can be found on Taxpayer Access Point under the Tools section and Electronic Cigarette Tools on or before October 1, 2024.

The commission may impose a penalty against a wholesaler, distributor or retailer that sells an e-cigarette product in the state that is not included in the product registry. For more information, see Utah Code §59-14-810.

E-cigarette Manufacturers

Manufacturers not licensed by the Utah State Tax Commission must file a TC-69 online at Taxpayer Access Point (TAP). Once your business registration has been processed, your PIN letter will be mailed to you. You will need that PIN number and your Utah tax account ID to register for a TAP account.

Manufacturers can submit applications to have their e-cigarette products put on the registry by completing the Electronic Cigarette Product Registration. Log into your account on Taxpayer Access Point to submit the Utah Certification of Electronic Cigarette Products and application. Per Utah Code 59-14-810, a nonrefundable fee of $1,000 is required for each e-cigarette product that is being added to the registry in the first instance.

To be considered for the Electronic Cigarette Product Registry, products must meet all of the following:

1. Product meets the requirements of a “premarket authorized or pending electronic cigarette product”:
   1. Product has been approved by an order granting a premarket tobacco product application of the electronic cigarette product by the United States Food and Drug Administration under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 387j(c)(1)(A)(i); or
   2. Product was marketed in the United States on or before August 8, 2016, the manufacturer submitted a premarket tobacco product application for the electronic cigarette product to the United States Food and Drug Administration under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 387j on or before September 9, 2020; and has an application described in Subsection (16)(b)(ii) that either remains under review by the United States Food and Drug Administration or a final decision on the application has not taken effect; and
2. Does not exceed: 4.0% by weight per container; or a nicotine concentration of 40 milligrams per milliliter
3. Product can only have taste or smell of either tobacco or menthol

All necessary requirements for your application can be found on the Electronic Cigarette Product Registration list.

E-cigarette products must be recertified by January 31^st each year with a $250 nonrefundable renewal fee. If a product is removed from the registry each retailer, distributor, and wholesaler shall have 30 days to remove the product from their inventory and return it to the manufacturer for disposal.

Nonresident manufacturers are required to appoint and maintain an agent in the state to receive any service of process on behalf of the manufacturer. A nonresident manufacturer shall provide notice to the commission 30 days prior to the termination of an agent and shall further provide proof of the appointment of a new agent no less than five calendar days prior to the termination of an existing agent.