Title 26 › Subtitle E — Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes › CHAPTER 52 — TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND CIGARETTE PAPERS AND TUBES › Subchapter F — General Provisions › § 5751
You must not buy, get, keep, offer for sale, sell, or otherwise get rid of tobacco products or cigarette papers or tubes after they have been removed if certain rules are broken. It is illegal if you mean to cheat the United States and the tax was not paid or figured when and how the tax rules require, or if the goods taken without tax are used for something not allowed under section 5704. It is also illegal if you mean to cheat and the packages or labels do not follow section 5723. Even without intent to cheat, you may not handle items after removal if their packaging or labels do not meet section 5723, but this does not stop sales directly to consumers from proper packages. Anyone who possesses these items in violation of the parts above about unpaid tax or wrong packaging must pay a tax equal to the tax on those items.
Full Legal Text
Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 5751
Title 26, Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110