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Oklahoma Legislature· HB 3983Placed on General Order

An act relating to cigarettes, the official text

Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Oklahoma Legislature, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
1                   STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2   2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026)

3 HOUSE BILL 3983                 By: Caldwell (Trey)

4

5

6                               AS INTRODUCED

7   An Act relating to cigarettes; amending 68 O.S. 2021,

    Section 301, 321, and 322, which relate to the

8   administration of cigarette excise taxes; modifying

    definition of cigarette; providing partial exemption

9   to cigarette excise taxes for certain types of

    products; requiring certain stamps be made available

10  on certain timeline; clarifying references; and

    providing an effective date.

11

12

13

14 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

15  SECTION 1.      AMENDATORY  68 O.S. 2021, Section 301, is

16 amended to read as follows:

17  Section 301. For purposes of Section 301 et seq. of this title:

18  1. The term "cigarette" is defined to mean and include all

19 rolled tobacco or any substitute therefor, wrapped in paper or any

20 substitute therefor, intended to be heated or burned, and weighing

21 not to exceed three (3) pounds per thousand cigarettes;

22  2. The term "person" is defined to mean and include any

23 individual, company, partnership, joint venture, joint agreement,

24 association (mutual or otherwise), limited liability company,

    Req. No. 14381                                                Page 1
1 corporation, estate, trust, business trust receiver, or trustee

2 appointed by any state or federal court, or otherwise, syndicate, or

3 any political subdivision of the state or combination acting as a

4 unit, in the plural or singular number;

5   3. The term "wholesaler", "distributor" and/or "jobber" is

6 defined to mean and include a person, firm or corporation organized

7 and existing, or doing business, primarily to sell cigarettes to,

8 and render service to retailers in the territory such person, firm

9 or corporation chooses to serve, and that:

10  a. purchases cigarettes directly from the manufacturer,

11  b. at least seventy-five percent (75%) of whose gross

12  sales are made at wholesale,

13  c. handles goods in wholesale quantities and sells

14  through salespersons, advertising and/or sales

15  promotion devices,

16  d. carries at all times at its principal place of

17  business a representative stock of cigarettes for

18  sale, and

19  e. comes into the possession of cigarettes for the

20  purpose of selling them to retailers or to persons

21  outside or within the state who might resell or retail

22  such cigarettes to consumers.

23  In addition to the foregoing, and irrespective of the percentage

24 or type of sales, the term "wholesaler", "distributor" and/or

    Req. No. 14381                                                 Page 2
1 "jobber" shall also include all purchasers of cigarettes making

2 purchases directly from the manufacturer for distribution at

3 wholesale or retail sale and this shall not affect the requirements

4 relating to retail licenses;

5   4. The term "retailer" is defined to be:

6   a. a person who comes into the possession of cigarettes

7   for the purpose of selling, or who sells them at

8   retail, or

9   b. a person, not coming within the classification of

10  wholesaler, distributor and/or jobber as herein

11  defined, having possession of more than one thousand

12  cigarettes;

13  5. The term "consumer" is defined to be a person who receives

14 or who in any way comes into possession of cigarettes for the

15 purpose of consuming them, giving them away, or disposing of them in

16 a way other than by sale, barter or exchange;

17  6. The term "Tax Commission" is defined to mean the Oklahoma

18 Tax Commission;

19  7. The term "sale" and/or "sales" is hereby defined to be and

20 declared to include sales, barters, exchanges and every other

21 manner, method and form of transferring the ownership of personal

22 property from one person to another, and is also declared to be the

23 use or consumption in this state in the first instance of cigarettes

24 received from without the state or of any other cigarettes upon

    Req. No. 14381                                                 Page 3
1 which the tax has not been paid. The term "first sale" shall mean

2 and include the first sale or distribution of cigarettes in

3 intrastate commerce or the first use or consumption of cigarettes

4 within this state;

5   8. The term "stamp" as herein used shall mean the stamp or

6 stamps by use of which:

7   a. the tax levied pursuant to the provisions of Section

8   301 et seq. of this title is paid,

9   b. the tax levied pursuant to the provisions of Section

10  349 of this title is paid, or

11  c. the payment in lieu of taxes authorized pursuant to a

12  compact entered into by the State of Oklahoma and a

13  federally recognized Indian tribe or nation pursuant

14  to the provisions of subsection C of Section 346 of

15  this title is paid;

16  9. The term "drop shipment" shall mean and include any delivery

17 of cigarettes received by any person within this state when payment

18 for such cigarettes is made to the shipper or seller by or through a

19 person other than the consignee;

20  10. The term "distributing agent" shall mean and include every

21 person in this state who acts as an agent of any person outside the

22 state by receiving cigarettes in interstate commerce and storing

23 such cigarettes subject to distribution or delivery upon order from

24 the person outside the state to distributors, wholesale dealers and

    Req. No. 14381                                              Page 4
1 retail dealers, or to consumers. The term "distributing agent"

2 shall also mean and include any person who solicits or takes orders

3 for cigarettes to be shipped in interstate commerce to a person in

4 this state by a person residing outside of Oklahoma, the tax not

5 having been paid on such cigarettes;

6   11. The term "vending machine" shall mean and include any coin

7 operating machine, contrivance, or device, by means of which

8 cigarettes are sold or dispensed in their original container;

9   12. The term "use" means and includes the exercise of any right

10 or power over cigarettes incident to the ownership or possession

11 thereof, except that it shall not include the sale of cigarettes in

12 the regular course of business;

13  13. a. The term "delivery sale" means any sale of cigarettes

14  to a consumer in Oklahoma where either:

15  (1) the purchaser submits the order for such sale by

16                  means of a telephonic or other method of voice

17                  transmission, the mails or any other delivery

18                  service, or the Internet or other online service,

19                  or

20  (2) the cigarettes are delivered by use of the mails

21                  or other delivery service.

22  b. A sale of cigarettes which satisfies the criteria in

23  subparagraph a of this paragraph shall be a delivery

24

    Req. No. 14381                                               Page 5
1   sale regardless of whether the seller is located

2   within or outside of Oklahoma.

3   c. A sale of cigarettes not for personal consumption to a

4   person who is a wholesale dealer or a retail dealer

5   shall not be a delivery sale.

6   d. For purposes of this paragraph, any sale of cigarettes

7   to an individual in Oklahoma shall be treated as a

8   sale to a consumer unless such individual is licensed

9   as a distributor or retailer of cigarettes by the Tax

10  Commission;

11  14. The term "delivery service" means any person, including but

12 not limited to the United States Postal Service, that is engaged in

13 the commercial delivery of letters, packages, or other containers;

14  15. The term "manufacturer" means any person who manufactures,

15 fabricates, assembles, processes, or labels a finished cigarette; or

16 imports, either directly or indirectly, a finished cigarette for

17 sale or distribution in this state;

18  16. The term "mails" or "mailing" means the shipment of

19 cigarettes through the United States Postal Service;

20  17. The term "shipping container" means a container in which

21 cigarettes are shipped in connection with a delivery sale; and

22  18. The term "shipping documents" means bills of lading,

23 airbills, or any other documents used to evidence the undertaking by

24

    Req. No. 14381                                                 Page 6
1 a delivery service to deliver letters, packages, or other

2 containers.

3   SECTION 2.      AMENDATORY  68 O.S. 2021, Section 321, is

4 amended to read as follows:

5   Section 321. A. The following sales are hereby exempted from

6 the stamp excise tax levied pursuant to the provisions of Section

7 301 et seq. of this title:

8   1. All cigarettes sold to veterans hospitals and state operated

9 domiciliary homes for veterans located in the State of Oklahoma, for

10 distribution or sale to disabled ex-servicemen or disabled ex-

11 servicewomen interned in, or inmates of, such hospitals, or

12 residents of such homes;

13  2. All sales to the United States;

14  3. All sales to a federally recognized Indian tribe or nation

15 which has entered into a compact with the State of Oklahoma pursuant

16 to the provisions of subsection C of Section 1 346 of this act title

17 or to a licensee of such a tribe or nation, upon which the payment

18 in lieu of taxes required by the compact has been paid; and

19  4. All sales to a federally recognized Indian tribe or nation

20 or to a licensee of such a tribe or nation upon which the tax levied

21 pursuant to the provisions of Section 4 349 of this act title has

22 been paid.

23  B. To the sale of cigarettes that are intended to be heated

24 rather than burned shall be applied a tax exemption equal to fifty

    Req. No. 14381                                                 Page 7
1 percent (50%) of the tax levied pursuant to the provisions of

2 Section 301 et seq. of this title.

3   SECTION 3.      AMENDATORY        68 O.S. 2021, Section 322, is

4 amended to read as follows:

5   Section 322. The Oklahoma Tax Commission shall prescribe such

6 rules and make such regulations as to the sale or distribution of

7 cigarettes, and the exemption from the stamp excise tax thereof, as

8 shall be deemed necessary to comply with the provisions of the

9 preceding section Section 301 et seq. of this title, including the

10 creation of distinct stamps to affix to packages of cigarettes that

11 are intended to be heated rather than burned, and provide that such

12 stamps be made available on or before the effective date of this

13 act.

14  SECTION 4. This act shall become effective November 1, 2026.

15

16  60-2-14381      JM  01/11/26

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    Req. No. 14381                                                   Page 8
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