Bill > SB0893

This bill amends Tennessee's tax code to specifically address heated tobacco products by expanding the definition of "cigarette" to include these products and establishing a unique tax rate for them. The bill defines a "heated tobacco product" as a tobacco-containing device that produces an inhalable aerosol by heating tobacco through either a device without combustion or by heat generated from a source that primarily heats rather than burns the tobacco. Currently, traditional cigarettes are taxed at three cents per cigarette, but this bill introduces a lower tax rate of fifteen hundredths of one cent (0.15¢) specifically for heated tobacco products. Additionally, the bill maintains an existing enforcement and administration fee of five hundredths of a cent per cigarette pack, which dealers and distributors must pay when purchasing tobacco tax stamps. The legislation aims to create a distinct tax classification for these relatively new tobacco products while ensuring they remain within the state's tobacco taxation framework. The bill will take effect immediately upon becoming law, as deemed necessary for the public welfare.