A. The taxes imposed by this chapter do not apply to:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 42-3404

  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
  • Distributor: means any person that manufactures, produces, ships, transports or imports into this state or in any manner acquires or possesses for the purpose of making the first sale of the following:

    (a) Cigarettes without Arizona tax stamps affixed as required by this article. See Arizona Laws 42-3001

  • Internal revenue code: means the United States internal revenue code of 1986, as amended and in effect as of January 1, 2023, including those provisions that became effective during 2022 with the specific adoption of their retroactive effective dates but excluding all changes to the code enacted after January 1, 2023. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
  • Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Person: means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, municipal corporation, estate, trust, club, society or other group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular number. See Arizona Laws 42-3001
  • Retailer: means any person that comes into possession of any luxury subject to the taxes imposed by this chapter for the purpose of selling it for consumption and not for resale. See Arizona Laws 42-3001
  • Tobacco products: means all luxuries included in section 42-3052, paragraphs 5 through 9. See Arizona Laws 42-3001
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215

1. Tobacco products that are sold to the United States army, air force, navy, marine corps or coast guard exchanges and commissaries and navy or coast guard ships’ stores.

2. Tobacco products that are sold to the United States department of veterans affairs.

3. Tobacco products that are non-tax-paid under subtitle E, chapter 52 of the internal revenue code and that are under internal revenue bond or customs control.

4. Tobacco products that are sold or transferred to a law enforcement agency for use in a criminal investigation if the sale or transfer is authorized by the department. A law enforcement agency authorized by the department to receive or purchase tobacco products is not required to:

(a) Be licensed as a distributor.

(b) Collect or remit the tax imposed by this chapter with respect to authorized distributions.

5. Tobacco products that are sold by a distributor licensed under section 42-3401 to a common carrier engaged in foreign passenger service or to a retailer that sells tobacco products on the facilities of the carrier that are dedicated to foreign passenger service.

6. Federally tax free tobacco products that are sold or given for delivery directly from the manufacturer under internal revenue bond to a veterans’ home of this state or a hospital or domiciliary facility of the United States department of veterans affairs for gratuitous issue to veterans receiving hospitalization or domiciliary care. The taxes are not imposed with respect to the use or consumption of the tobacco products by the institution, veteran patients or domiciliaries.

7. Tobacco products that are sold by a manufacturer to a distributor licensed under section 42-3401.

8. Tobacco products that are manufactured outside the United States and that are sold by an importer to a distributor licensed under section 42-3401.

B. Subsection A, paragraphs 1 and 2 of this section do not apply after the first day of the first calendar month beginning more than sixty days after existing federal law is amended to permit state taxation of cigarettes sold by or through federal military installations.

C. Sales of tobacco products by a licensed distributor to an instrumentality of the United States government must be supported by a separate sales invoice and a properly completed federal exemption certificate. Each sales invoice must be numbered, be dated and show the name of the seller, the name of the purchaser and the destination.

D. This section does not affect the imposition of transaction privilege and use taxes pursuant to chapter 5 of this title to any transactions described in subsection A of this section if the transaction is otherwise subject to transaction privilege tax or use tax.

E. The exemptions and exclusions provided in subsection A of this section do not affect the taxability under this chapter of tobacco products that are sold, given or transferred to a person in this state subsequent to the transactions described in subsection A of this section.