Any business selling tobacco at retail in Florida must hold a Florida tobacco license, formally called a retail tobacco products dealer permit, issued by the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). The permit costs up to $50 a year, covers one physical location, and must be renewed on or before January 15 each year.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 569.003 – Retail Tobacco Products Dealer Permits; Application; Qualifications; Fees; Renewal; Duplicates
Who Needs the Permit and Who Qualifies
The permit is required of every person, firm, or corporation that sells tobacco products at retail or allows a tobacco vending machine on the premises. You need a separate permit for each location where tobacco is sold. If you operate vending machines, one permit covers all machines at a single site, along with any over-the-counter sales there.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 569.003 – Retail Tobacco Products Dealer Permits; Application; Qualifications; Fees; Renewal; Duplicates
Two threshold qualifications apply. Individual applicants must be at least 21 years old, and if the applicant is a corporation, every officer must be 21 or older. The Division can also refuse a permit to anyone whose prior permit was revoked, or to any officer of a corporation whose permit was revoked.
You apply using DBPR Form ABT 6028, which requires disclosure of any convictions or unlawful acts related to tobacco or nicotine sales.2Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Application for Retail Tobacco Products Dealer Permit or Retail Nicotine Products Dealer Permit Corporations, LLCs, and partnerships have to be registered with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations before they apply. Applications missing that registration are treated as incomplete.
Fees, Renewal, and What a Lapse Costs
The Division sets the annual fee based on its permitting and enforcement costs, capped by statute at $50. No applicant is exempt, regardless of business type or sales volume.
Renewal is annual and due on or before January 15. Miss that date and you owe a delinquent renewal fee of $5 for each month or partial month between expiration and the day you actually renew.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 569.003 – Retail Tobacco Products Dealer Permits; Application; Qualifications; Fees; Renewal; Duplicates That’s the small penalty. The bigger one is that any sales made while your permit is lapsed count as selling without a permit, which carries its own fine of up to $500. A duplicate permit, if yours is lost or destroyed, costs $15.
Vapes and E-Cigarettes Need a Separate Permit
If your store also sells vapes, e-cigarettes, or other nicotine products, the tobacco permit does not cover you. Florida requires a separate retail nicotine products dealer permit under Section 569.32.3Online Sunshine. Florida Code 569.32 – Retail Nicotine Products Dealer Permits The structure mirrors the tobacco permit: one per location, annual renewal, similar requirements. The DBPR application form handles both, so you can apply for the two at the same time. Retailers who sell both product types and only hold one permit tend to find out during an inspection.
Age Verification and Display Rules
Selling tobacco to anyone under 21 in Florida is a criminal offense. A first violation is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.4Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 569 – Tobacco and Nicotine Products5Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Notification to Department of Revenue A second violation within one year becomes a first-degree misdemeanor, with up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, and the DBPR can act against your permit on top of that.
Every purchaser’s age must be verified using a government-issued photo ID. There’s no exception for customers who appear old enough. The practical answer is to card every customer, every time.
Federal display rules apply as well. The FDA prohibits self-service tobacco displays in any facility where people under 21 are present or allowed to enter.6U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Selling Tobacco Products in Retail Stores Cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco must sit behind the counter or in a restricted area unless the establishment bars anyone under 21 from entering at all.
Records You Have to Keep
Florida’s record-keeping requirements come from Section 210.60. Retailers must keep itemized invoices for every tobacco product purchased, showing the seller’s name, the seller’s address, and the date of purchase, and preserve those invoices in legible form for at least three years from the purchase date.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 210.60 – Books, Records, and Invoices to Be Kept and Preserved; Inspection by Agents of Division
Distributors face broader requirements. They must maintain complete records of all tobacco products held, purchased, manufactured, brought into the state, or shipped to retailers, including purchasers’ names and addresses, and provide an itemized invoice with every sale to another business, with copies kept for three years.
A simple filing system, sorted by supplier and date, satisfies the rule and saves real trouble in an audit. If the Division asks for an invoice from two years ago and you can’t produce it, you are already in trouble.
The Permit Includes Consent to Warrantless Inspection
Accepting the permit means you have consented to inspection of the premises without a search warrant by the Division, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and police officers. Section 569.004 builds that consent directly into the permit.4Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 569 – Tobacco and Nicotine Products It applies to both tobacco and nicotine permits. An inspector will usually check that the permit is valid and displayed, that records are in order, and that employees follow age verification procedures.
Penalties for Selling Without a Permit
Selling tobacco without a valid permit is a noncriminal violation, not a misdemeanor, and carries a maximum fine of $500.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 569.005 – Operating Without a Retail Tobacco Products Dealer Permit; Penalty You’ll get a citation and be required to appear in county court. Paying the $500 within 10 days lets you skip the hearing, but paying counts as an admission of the violation. The bigger cost is downstream: the record can make it harder to obtain or renew a permit later, and if you also hold an alcoholic beverage license, a tobacco compliance problem can draw scrutiny to your other permits.
Administrative Fines and Permit Discipline
Separately from that noncriminal violation, the Division can discipline any permit holder who violates any provision of Chapter 569. Each violation can draw an administrative fine of up to $1,000, and the Division can also suspend or revoke the permit.9Online Sunshine. Florida Code 569.006 – Retail Tobacco Products Dealers; Administrative Penalties An order imposing a fine takes effect 15 days after it is issued. The Division may suspend the penalty if you agree to comply with conditions it sets, which leaves some room to negotiate in less serious cases. Sales to minors and operating without a permit are the violations the Division treats most seriously.
Federal FDA Penalties on Top
The state permit is only half the picture. The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products runs its own compliance checks and issues escalating penalties for retail violations, especially sales to underage purchasers. The tiered fine structure starts with a warning letter for the first violation and rises through set caps for subsequent violations within rolling 12-, 24-, 36-, and 48-month windows, up to a statutory maximum of $21,903 for a single violation of any FDA tobacco requirement.10U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Advisory and Enforcement Actions Against Industry for Selling Tobacco Products to Underage Purchasers Federal penalties stack on top of the state’s, so one sale to a minor can produce consequences from both at once.
If You Ship or Sell Online: the PACT Act
The federal Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act adds a separate layer for businesses that ship tobacco products or sell across state lines. The law generally bans mailing cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and electronic nicotine delivery systems. Businesses making delivery sales must register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and file monthly reports with the tobacco tax administrator of every state they ship into.11Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act Delivery sales also require age verification at delivery, proper labeling, and compliance with every applicable state and local tax, licensing, and flavor-ban law. Brick-and-mortar Florida retailers selling only in person are not covered, but the moment you take an order by phone, website, or app and ship product, PACT applies.
State Tobacco Taxes That Affect Retailers
Florida levies both an excise tax and a surcharge on tobacco products. Distributors are the ones who remit, but the structure shapes wholesale costs. Cigarettes carry a state excise tax of 16.95 mills per cigarette (about $0.34 per pack of 20) plus a surcharge of 5 cents per cigarette ($1.00 per pack), for a combined state-level tax of roughly $1.34 per pack before any federal excise tax. Other tobacco products, including cigars, pipe tobacco, and chewing tobacco, are taxed at 25 percent of the wholesale sales price plus a 60 percent surcharge, for a combined 85 percent rate that noticeably affects margins on premium cigars and loose tobacco.