Seattle, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

SMC Chapter 6.240 requires every person offering tobacco products for retail sale within Seattle city limits to hold a tobacco product retailer's license, issued by the Director of Finance and Administrative Services under SMC 6.240.020. 'Tobacco product' is defined at SMC 6.240.010 to mean pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, cigarettes, or cigarillos; a separate definition covers 'vapor product,' but that term is not folded into the licensed 'tobacco product' category. Vending machines owned by the same operator at one address count as a single licensed operation, while a mobile tobacco vendor needs a separate license for each motor vehicle and may only sell along a fixed, pre-approved route to business, industrial, or construction sites described on the application.

SMC 6.240.040 sets the license year from July 1 through June 30, and SMC 6.204.120 fixes the annual fee at $135.00 per location, vehicle, or operation, with a $25.00 fee to reissue a license after a route change. SMC 6.240.080 bars selling any tobacco product outside its original sealed package bearing the required health warning. SMC 6.240.100 makes it a gross misdemeanor to sell or give tobacco to a minor (defined as under 21 at SMC 6.240.010), with absolute liability, no mental-state defense applies, and retailers must check ID whenever a customer's age is in question. SMC 6.240.200 converts violations of the licensing, packaging, and ID-check provisions into civil infractions layered on top of the misdemeanor exposure for minor sales.