PACT Act, Delivery Seller, Common Carrier, and Consumer
Consumer

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Consumer Responsibilities

Consumers of untaxed cigarettes and tobacco products are required to:

Filing requirements

Consumers who purchase untaxed cigarettes or tobacco products must file their returns online and pay the tax due on or before the last day of the calendar month following the end of a calendar quarter in which they made their purchase (Revenue and Taxation Code [RTC] sections 6451, 6452, 30008, 30107, and 30187). For example, if you purchased cigarettes and tobacco products without paying the California excise or use taxes at the time of purchase anytime between January 1, 2026, and March 31, 2026 (the first calendar quarter of the year 2026), you must file and pay the first quarter 2026 excise and use tax by April 30, 2026.

You will use a combined online return to report both the excise and use taxes for your purchases. Go to our Online Services page, select File a Return, then Cigarette & Tobacco Internet Purchases Return, and then follow the prompts to report your purchases, file a return, and pay the tax due.

You may not report and pay the excise taxes or use taxes on your sales and use tax return or on your California state income tax return. For information on California use tax, please visit our Use Tax guide.

You will not owe the cigarette excise taxes if you personally bring less than 400 cigarettes (typically 20 packs or two cartons) into California for your own use or consumption, but you will still owe the use tax.

Delinquencies

You will be liable for the payment of excise and use taxes to us unless your purchase invoices specifically show you paid the California cigarette and tobacco products excise taxes and California sales or use taxes. You should keep documents (for example, bills, receipts, invoices, and so forth) that show the items purchased, the amount paid for them, and separately stated excise taxes.

If you do not file on time, you may owe a ten percent (10%) late filing penalty on the amount of tax due and interest at our current rate. You may receive a delinquency notice and a compliance assessment of tax, penalty and interest based on invoices we received from the out-of-state companies complying with the Jenkins Act, or other documentation available to us. You will then have 30 days to pay or dispute the liability.

If you do not report the excise and use taxes on cigarette or tobacco products purchased without tax, the statute of limitations for not filing a return allows us to bill the taxes, penalties, and interest eight years back.