Date of enactment: March 21, 2024
2023 Assembly Bill 910 Date of publication*: March 22, 2024
2023 WISCONSIN ACT 150
AN ACT to renumber 139.75 (1); to amend 139.75 (12), 139.76 (1), 139.78 (1), 139.82 (1), 139.82 (2) (a), 139.82
(6) and 139.82 (8); and to create 139.75 (1d), 139.75 (1p), 139.75 (5u), 139.75 (6c), 139.75 (6g), 139.76 (1p), 139.78
(1p), 139.795 and 139.815 of the statutes; relating to: remote sellers of cigars and pipe tobacco.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 139.75 (1) of the statutes is renumbered
139.75 (1h).
SECTION 2. 139.75 (1d) of the statutes is created to
read:
139.75 (1d) “Actual cost” means the total price of
cigars or pipe tobacco charged by the manufacturer or
other seller to an unrelated distributor or remote retail
seller. The total price includes all charges by the manu-
facturer or other seller that are necessary to complete the
sale. The total price does not include a reduction for any
cost or expense, regardless of whether the cost or expense
is separately stated on an invoice, that is incurred by the
manufacturer or other seller, including fees, delivery,
freight, transportation, packaging, handling, or market-
ing costs, federal excise taxes, import fees, or duties. The
total price does not include a reduction for the value or
cost of discounts or free promotional or sample products.
For purposes of this subsection, a manufacturer or other
seller is related to a distributor or remote retail seller if the
2 parties have significant common purposes and substan-
tial common membership or, directly or indirectly, sub-
stantial common direction or control.
SECTION 3. 139.75 (1p) of the statutes is created to
read:
139.75 (1p) “Cigar” means any roll of tobacco
wrapped in leaf tobacco or in any substance containing
tobacco but does not include a cigarette.
SECTION 4. 139.75 (5u) of the statutes is created to
read:
139.75 (5u) “Pipe tobacco” means any tobacco that,
because of its appearance, type, packaging, or labeling,
is suitable for use and likely to be offered to or purchased
by consumers as tobacco to be smoked in a pipe.
SECTION 5. 139.75 (6c) of the statutes is created to
read:
139.75 (6c) “Remote retail sale” means any sale of
cigars or pipe tobacco to a consumer that satisfies any of
the following:
(a) The consumer submits the order for the sale by
telephone, a method of voice transmission, mail, or the
Internet or other online service, or the seller is otherwise
not in the physical presence of the consumer when the
order or request for purchase is made.
(b) The cigars or pipe tobacco are delivered to the
consumer by common carrier, private delivery service, or
other method of remote delivery, or the seller is not in the
* Section 991.11, WISCONSIN STATUTES: Effective date of acts. “Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor’s
partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication.” − 2 −2023 Wisconsin Act 150 2023 Assembly Bill 910
physical presence of the consumer when the consumer
obtains possession of the cigars or pipe tobacco.
SECTION 6. 139.75 (6g) of the statutes is created to
read:
139.75 (6g) “Remote retail seller” means a person
located inside or outside of this state who makes remote
retail sales.
SECTION 7. 139.75 (12) of the statutes is amended to
read:
139.75 (12) “Tobacco products” means cigars; pipe
tobacco; cheroots; stogies; periques; granulated, plug
cut, crimp cut, ready−rubbed and other smoking tobacco;
snuff, including moist snuff; snuff flour; cavendish; plug
and twist tobacco; fine cut and other chewing tobaccos;
shorts; refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings and sweepings
of tobacco and other kinds and forms of tobacco prepared
in such manner as to be suitable for chewing or smoking
in a pipe or otherwise, or both for chewing and smoking;
but “tobacco products” does not include cigarettes, as
defined under s. 139.30 (1m).
SECTION 8. 139.76 (1) of the statutes is amended to
read:
139.76 (1) An Except as provided in sub. (1p), an
excise tax is imposed upon the sale, offering or exposing
for sale, possession with intent to sell or removal for con-
sumption or sale or other disposition for any purpose of
tobacco products by any person engaged as a distributor
of them at the rate, for tobacco products, not including
moist snuff and, vapor products, cigars, and pipe tobacco,
of 71 percent of the manufacturer’s established list price
to distributors without diminution by volume or other
discounts on domestic products and, for moist snuff, at
the rate of 100 percent of the manufacturer’s established
list price to distributors without diminution by volume or
other discounts on domestic products. The tax imposed
under this subsection on cigars shall not exceed an
amount equal to 50 cents for each cigar. On products
imported from another country, not including moist snuff
and, vapor products, cigars, and pipe tobacco, the rate of
tax is 71 percent of the amount obtained by adding the
manufacturer’s list price to the federal tax, duties and
transportation costs to the United States. On moist snuff
imported from another country, the rate of the tax is 100
percent of the amount obtained by adding the manufac-
turer’s list price to the federal tax, duties, and transporta-
tion costs to the United States. The Except as provided
in sub. (1p), the tax attaches at the time the tobacco prod-
ucts are received by the distributor in this state. The tax
shall be passed on to the ultimate consumer of the tobacco
products. All tobacco products received in this state for
sale or distribution within this state, except tobacco prod-
ucts actually sold as provided in sub. (2), shall be subject
to such tax.
SECTION 9. 139.76 (1p) of the statutes is created to
read:
139.76 (1p) An excise tax is imposed upon the sale,
offering or exposing for sale, possession with intent to
sell, or removal for consumption or sale or other disposi-
tion for any purpose of cigars and pipe tobacco by any
person engaged as a distributor or remote retail seller of
them at the rate of 71 percent of the actual cost to the dis-
tributor or remote retail seller. The tax imposed under
this subsection on cigars shall not exceed an amount
equal to 50 cents for each cigar. The tax attaches at the
time the cigars or pipe tobacco are received by the distrib-
utor in this state, except that for cigars and pipe tobacco
sold by a remote retail seller, the tax attaches at the time
the remote retail seller makes a remote retail sale of cigars
or pipe tobacco to a consumer. The tax shall be passed on
to the ultimate consumer of the cigars and pipe tobacco.
All cigars and pipe tobacco received in this state for sale
or distribution within this state, except tobacco products
actually sold as provided in sub. (2), shall be subject to
such tax.
SECTION 10. 139.78 (1) of the statutes is amended to
read:
139.78 (1) A Except as provided in sub. (1p), a tax
is imposed upon the use or storage by consumers of
tobacco products in this state at the rate, for tobacco prod-
ucts, not including moist snuff and, vapor products,
cigars, and pipe tobacco, of 71 percent of the cost of the
tobacco products and, for moist snuff, at the rate of 100
percent of the manufacturer’s established list price to dis-
tributors without diminution by volume or other dis-
counts on domestic products. The tax imposed under this
subsection on cigars shall not exceed an amount equal to
50 cents for each cigar. The tax does not apply if the tax
imposed by s. 139.76 (1) on the tobacco products has
been paid or if the tobacco products are exempt from the
tobacco products tax under s. 139.76 (2).
SECTION 11. 139.78 (1p) of the statutes is created to
read:
139.78 (1p) A tax is imposed upon the use or storage
by consumers of cigars and pipe tobacco in this state at
the rate and basis under s. 139.76 (1p). The tax does not
apply if the tax imposed by s. 139.76 (1p) on the cigars
or pipe tobacco has been paid or if the cigars or pipe
tobacco are exempt from the tax under s. 139.76 (2).
SECTION 12. 139.795 of the statutes is created to read:
139.795 Permits; remote retail seller. (1) No per-
son may engage in the business of a remote retail seller
at any place of business, including a legal location in any
state at which records are kept or accessed by the remote
retail seller, unless that person has filed an application for
and obtained a permit from the department to engage in
that business at such place.
(2) Section 139.34 (1) (b) to (f) and (9) applies to the
permit under this section. − 3 − 2023 Wisconsin Act 150 2023 Assembly Bill 910
SECTION 13. 139.815 of the statutes is created to read:
139.815 Remote retail sales. No person may make
remote retail sales to consumers unless all of the follow-
ing apply:
(1) The person obtains a remote retail seller permit
under s. 139.795.
(2) The person registers with the department and col-
lects the taxes administered or imposed under s. 77.52 or
77.53.
(3) The person collects and remits the tax under s.
139.76.
(4) The person uses an independent, 3rd−party age
verification service that compares information available
from a commercially available database or aggregate of
databases that are regularly used by government agencies
and business for age and identity verification to deter-
mine whether a prospective consumer has attained the
minimum age for purchasing a tobacco product under the
federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act based on the per-
sonal information provided by the prospective consumer
during the ordering process.
SECTION 14. 139.82 (1) of the statutes is amended to
read:
139.82 (1) Every manufacturer located out of the
state shall keep records of all sales of tobacco products
and vapor products shipped into this state. Every manu-
facturer located in this state shall keep records of produc-
tion, sales and withdrawals of tobacco products and
vapor products. Every distributor and remote retail seller
shall keep records of purchases and sales of tobacco prod-
ucts and vapor products. Every subjobber shall keep
records of all purchases and disposition of tobacco prod-
ucts and vapor products. Every warehouse operator shall
keep records of receipts and withdrawals of tobacco
products and vapor products. All records shall be accu-
rate and complete and be kept in a manner prescribed by
the department. These records shall be preserved on the
premises described in the permit in such a manner as to
ensure permanency and accessibility for inspection at
reasonable hours by authorized personnel of the depart-
ment.
SECTION 15. 139.82 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended
to read:
139.82 (2) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), every
permittee shall render a true and correct invoice of every
sale of tobacco products and vapor products at wholesale,
or, if the permittee is a remote retail seller, at retail, and
shall on or before the 15th day of each calendar month file
a verified report of all tobacco products and vapor prod-
ucts purchased, sold, received, warehoused or withdrawn
during the preceding calendar month.
SECTION 16. 139.82 (6) of the statutes, as affected by
2023 Wisconsin Act 73, is amended to read:
139.82 (6) Sections 71.78 (1), (1m), and (4) to (9) and
71.83 (2) (a) 3. and 3m., relating to confidentiality of
income and franchise tax returns, apply to any informa-
tion obtained from any person on a cigarette tax return,
report, schedule, exhibit, or other document or from an
audit report pertaining to the return, report, schedule,
exhibit, or document, except that the department shall
publish on its Internet site, at least quarterly, a current list
of permits issued to remote retail sellers, distributors, and
jobbers under s. 139.34 and include on the list the name
and address of the permit holder and the date on which the
department issued the permit.
SECTION 17. 139.82 (8) of the statutes is amended to
read:
139.82 (8) Each distributor and remote retail seller
shall collect and remit the excise tax imposed by s. 139.76
on tobacco products and vapor products not exempt from
tax under s. 139.76 (2), with the reports required to be
filed under this section.
SECTION 18.0Effective date.
(1) This act takes effect on January 1, 2025.