---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 376"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "376"
heading: "Reports to State tobacco tax administrator"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/376"
units:
  - "Chapter 10A — Collection of State Cigarette Taxes"
---

# §376. Reports to State tobacco tax administrator

- (a) **Contents—** Any [person](/usc/15/375.md?p=11) who sells, transfers, or ships for profit [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13) in [interstate commerce](/usc/15/375.md?p=10-A), whereby such [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13) are shipped into a [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12), locality, or [Indian country](/usc/15/375.md?p=8) of an [Indian tribe](/usc/15/375.md?p=9) taxing the sale or use of [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13), or who advertises or offers [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13) for such a sale, transfer, or shipment, shall—
  - (1) first file with the [Attorney General](/usc/15/375.md?p=1) of the United States and with the [tobacco tax administrators](/usc/15/375.md?p=14) of the [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12) and place into which such shipment is made or in which such advertisement or offer is disseminated a statement setting forth his name and trade name (if any), and the address of his principal place of business and of any other place of business, as well as telephone numbers for each place of business, a principal electronic mail address, any website addresses, and the name, address, and telephone number of an agent in the [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12) authorized to accept service on behalf of the [person](/usc/15/375.md?p=11);
  - (2) not later than the 10th day of each calendar month, file with the [tobacco tax administrator](/usc/15/375.md?p=14) of the [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12) into which such shipment is made, a memorandum or a copy of the invoice covering each and every shipment of [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13) made during the previous calendar month into such [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12); the memorandum or invoice in each case to include the name and address of the [person](/usc/15/375.md?p=11) to whom the shipment was made, the brand, the quantity thereof, and the name, address, and phone number of the [person](/usc/15/375.md?p=11) delivering the shipment to the recipient on behalf of the [delivery seller](/usc/15/375.md?p=6), with all invoice or memoranda information relating to specific customers to be organized by city or town and by zip code; and
  - (3) with respect to each memorandum or invoice filed with a [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12) under [paragraph (2)](#a-2), also file copies of the memorandum or invoice with the [tobacco tax administrators](/usc/15/375.md?p=14) and chief law enforcement officers of the [local governments](/usc/15/34.md?p=1) and [Indian tribes](/usc/15/375.md?p=9) operating within the borders of the [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12) that apply their own local or [tribal](/usc/15/375.md?p=9) taxes on [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13).
- (b) **Presumptive evidence—** The fact that any [person](/usc/15/375.md?p=11) ships or delivers for shipment any [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13) shall, if such shipment is into a [State](/usc/15/375.md?p=12) in which such [person](/usc/15/375.md?p=11) has filed a statement with the [tobacco tax administrator](/usc/15/375.md?p=14) under [subsection (a)(1)](#a-1) of this section, be presumptive evidence that such [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) or [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13) were sold, or transferred for profit, by such [person](/usc/15/375.md?p=11).
- (c) **Use of information—** A [tobacco tax administrator](/usc/15/375.md?p=14) or chief law enforcement officer who receives a memorandum or invoice under paragraph [(2)](#a-2) or [(3)](#a-3) of subsection (a) shall use the memorandum or invoice solely for the purposes of the enforcement of this chapter and the collection of any taxes owed on related sales of [cigarettes](/usc/15/375.md?p=2-A) and [smokeless tobacco](/usc/15/375.md?p=13), and shall keep confidential any personal information in the memorandum or invoice except as required for such purposes.

## Source credit

(Oct. 19, 1949, ch. 699, § 2, 63 Stat. 884; Aug. 15, 1953, ch. 512, title II, § 201(a), 67 Stat. 617; Aug. 9, 1955, ch. 695, § 1, 69 Stat. 627; Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b), Mar. 31, 2010, 124 Stat. 1090.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2010—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(1), (2)(A), inserted heading and, in introductory provisions, substituted “cigarettes or smokeless tobacco” for “cigarettes” wherever appearing, “, transfers, or ships” for “or transfers”, and “, transfer, or shipment” for “or transfer and shipment”, inserted “, locality, or Indian country of an Indian tribe” after “a State”, and struck out “to other than a distributor licensed by or located in such State,” after “use of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco,”.

Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(2)(B), substituted “with the Attorney General of the United States and with the tobacco tax administrators of the State and place” for “with the tobacco tax administrator of the State” and “, as well as telephone numbers for each place of business, a principal electronic mail address, any website addresses, and the name, address, and telephone number of an agent in the State authorized to accept service on behalf of the person;” for “; and”.

Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(1), (2)(C), substituted “cigarettes or smokeless tobacco” for “cigarettes” and “the quantity thereof, and the name, address, and phone number of the person delivering the shipment to the recipient on behalf of the delivery seller, with all invoice or memoranda information relating to specific customers to be organized by city or town and by zip code; and” for “and the quantity thereof.”

Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(2)(D), added par. (3).

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(1), (3), inserted heading, substituted “cigarettes or smokeless tobacco” for “cigarettes” in two places and “evidence that” for “evidence (1) that”, and struck out “, and (2) that such sale or transfer was to other than a distributor licensed by or located in such State” after “by such person”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 111–154, § 2(b)(4), added subsec. (c).

1955—Act Aug. 9, 1955, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted provisions requiring filing of a statement of name, trade name, address, and places of business by persons who sell or transfer for profit cigarettes in interstate commerce or by persons who advertise or offer cigarettes for such sale or transfer, and added subsec. (b).

1953—Act Aug. 15, 1953, required that the memorandum or copy of invoice be filed with, rather than forwarded to, the tobacco tax administrator.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2010 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 111–154 effective on the date that is 90 days after March 31, 2010, see section 6 of Pub. L. 111–154, set out as a note under section 375 of this title.

### Effective Date of 1955 Amendment

Act Aug. 9, 1955, ch. 695, § 2, 69 Stat. 628, provided that: Except as provided in subsection (b), the amendments made by this Act [amending this section and former sections 375, 377, and 378 of this title] shall take effect thirty days after the date of its enactment [Aug. 9, 1955]. The provisions of section 2(a) of the Act of October 19, 1949, as amended by this Act [15 U.S.C. 376(a)], insofar as it requires the filing of memoranda or copies of invoices with the appropriate tax administrator for shipments of cigarettes into the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall apply in respect of memoranda or copies of invoices covering shipments made during calendar months beginning after the month in which this Act is enacted [August 1955].”

### Effective Date of 1953 Amendment

Act Aug. 15, 1953, ch. 512, title II, § 201(b), 67 Stat. 617, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply only in respect of memoranda or copies of invoices covering shipments made during the calendar month in which this Act is enacted [August 1953] and subsequent calendar months.”