Texas Comptroller issues retail cigarette, e-cigarette, and tobacco permits under Tax Code Chapters 154 and 155; Austin Code Chapter 7-2 layers vendor responsibilities and Smoke-Free Workplace duties, while HB 1771 preempts most local restrictions on flavor or product mix.
Every Austin tobacco retailer must hold a Texas Comptroller cigarette and tobacco products permit, renewed every two years per Tax Code Chapters 154 and 155, and verify customer age twenty-one under federal Tobacco 21 law. Austin Code Chapter 7-2 adds Smoke-Free Workplace duties: no smoking inside any retail premises, signage requirements, and vendor responsibilities for clerk training. Texas HB 1771 (2023) preempts municipal flavor bans, retail license caps, and additional age rules, leaving Austin without authority to restrict product mix. Local enforcement focuses on indoor-smoking compliance, sales-to-minors stings coordinated with the Comptroller, and zoning. The Comptroller's Tobacco Enforcement Program runs covert age-compliance checks and may suspend permits for failed checks.
Sales without a Comptroller permit, sales to under-21 customers, or indoor-smoking violations trigger administrative penalties up to $1,000 per occurrence, permit suspension, and Austin class C misdemeanor citations. Repeat sales-to-minors violations may bar the retailer from holding any tobacco permit.
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