The main criteria for licensing wholesale trade in the field of tobacco products are considered strict compliance with tax laws, sanitary and technological standards. At the same time, wholesale trade in tobacco products is considered to be the supply of such to legal entities, as well as individual entrepreneurs, in accordance with the requirements of civil legislative supervision.
This article will figure out if you need a license to sell cigarettes.
Obtaining Licenses
Licenses for the production of cigarettes and their wholesale are issued by the Ministry of the Russian Federation for taxes and duties.
To obtain this document, the following documents must be submitted to the licensing authority:
- an application for a license indicating the name of the legal entity, for example, data of an identity document, addresses of the places of the actual activity, bank details of the bank account, bank account, and, in addition, the period during which it will be made;
- copies of documents of constituent nature with all the additions, a certificate of state registration of the license applicant as a legal entity with the obligatory presentation of the originals in situations where the papers are not certified by a notary. These documents are needed for a license to sell liquid for electronic cigarettes;
- copies of payment orders and bank statements, which confirm the payment for consideration of the application for a license;
- certificates from the territorial tax authorities on the registration of a person with fixing the individual taxpayer number, documents confirming the absence of arrears in the payment of fees and taxes, and, in addition, other obligatory payments;
- copies of documents that confirm the right to use and own land, buildings that will be used to conduct a specific type of activity;
- a copy of a letter from the State Committee of the Russian Federation on Statistics, compiled in order to include a citizen in need of a license in the unified state register of organizations;
- information about intraobjective and access modes;
- conclusion of authorized state bodies on the proper compliance of the storage facilities of the enterprise of the license applicant with sanitary and fire safety standards, and, in addition, with technical safety requirements.
special instructions
All documents that are submitted to the state body in order to acquire a license must be accepted according to the inventory, a copy of which is handed to the applicant with a note on the date of receipt of the papers.
Do I need a cigarette license? Yes, it is issued no later than three days from the date of submission of documents confirming payment of the fee. If within three months the required amount is not paid, the authorized body will be entitled to revoke the license. A permit is issued for a period of three years. A fine is imposed on the sale of cigarettes without a license.
This document is subject to special registration in the license registry.
Its validity can be extended at the request of the licensee. Permission forms are considered strict reporting documents, therefore they have a degree of security similar to the level of valuable assets, thus, they reflect the accounting series and number.
Grounds for refusal to license the wholesale of tobacco products
Responding positively to the question of whether a cigarette license is needed, it is important to note that there are some restrictions on obtaining it. The reason not to issue a license for the wholesale trade in cigarette goods is:
- the presence of distorted and inaccurate information in documents;
- a negative result after the studies that have established a complete or partial non-compliance of the applicant with the licensing requirements in the field of the activity in question.
A notice of refusal to assign a license for a pack of cigarettes shall be delivered to the applicant within three days after a negative decision is made with the obligatory indication of all reasons. A person who is not satisfied with the decision has the right to appeal it within the framework of the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Suspension of a cigarette wholesale license
Licensing authorities have the authority to suspend a license in the following cases:
- detection by the state regulatory oversight bodies of violations of the necessary requirements that could cause harm to the health of citizens, as well as state security and national defense;
- failure to carry out licensed activities within one year from the date of issuance of the necessary document allowing this activity to be carried out;
- failure by the licensee to comply with all mandatory requirements, as well as various orders of the supervisory authority to eliminate identified violations.
The term for which the permit may be terminated may not exceed six months. If the circumstances that led to the suspension of the license are eliminated, its effect may be resumed. The cost of a license to sell cigarettes is given below.
Cost
Since January 2017, the rate on all types of tobacco (smoking, chewing, pipe) has been increased to 2500 rubles, in 2018 it will increase to 2700 rubles, and in 2019 to 3000 rubles.
Excisable products also contain electronic cigarettes.
License revocation
Among other things, the license can be revoked by a court decision. In parallel with the filing of an application with the court about such a process, the controlling body is entitled to suspend the work of the document for the period until the announcement of the decision and its entry into force.
Most often, the basis for cancellation of paper is:
- detection of distorted and inaccurate data in documents that were provided in order to obtain a license;
- repeated, and, in addition, gross violation by a person of licensing conditions and requirements;
- illegal licensing of tobacco.
Licensing authorities, within their powers, are required to take the following measures:
- carry out checks for compliance by licensees with all requirements;
- request the necessary explanations on issues that arise during inspections, including a declaration on the volumes of purchased and sold products, and, in addition, reports on the use of special brands;
- draw up protocols with fixation of revealed violations according to the results of inspections;
- issue instructions that will oblige the licensee to eliminate any identified violations, and also requires the establishment of a timeline for their elimination;
- issue warnings to the violator;
- carry out other actions provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
License registry
The controlling body draws up a register of licenses, where such information as is entered:
- information about licensees;
- name of the supervisor;
- the type of activity for which the relevant document has been issued;
- permit number and date of issue;
- validity period of the permit;
- the date of renewal and suspension of the license with the obligatory indication of the grounds for such actions;
- grounds for revoking the license and the date of the relevant decision.
The information contained in the registry is publicly available and is provided for a fee to all interested parties, both physical and legal representatives. Representatives of state authorities, however, as well as local authorities, this information is provided free of charge. The deadline for submitting this information may not exceed three days from the date of submission of the necessary application. What are the rules governing cigarette wholesale?
Legal norms and requirements in the field of wholesale sales of tobacco products
In the framework of the adopted legislation in relation to the wholesale trade in cigarette goods, a number of the following requirements are put forward for the implementation of this activity:
- The interior where cigarettes are stored must be clean, dry and well ventilated. It is also necessary to observe a certain humidity.
- The floor in warehouses should be located at a height of not less than fifty centimeters above ground level. All boxes with cigarettes should be on a wooden floor, or bars or flooring at a height of not less than ten centimeters from the floor with small gaps for normal air circulation.
- Crates of tobacco are stacked in no more than six pieces in each row. The distance from any heat sources cannot be less than a meter.
- Do not store cigarettes with perishable, odoriferous foods in the same room.
Penalty for selling cigarettes without a license
According to article No. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the sale of unlabelled tobacco products, which are subject to mandatory excise duty, is strictly prohibited in the country. Do I need a license for every pack of cigarettes? Definitely yes. The legislation provides for punishment for the sale of cigarette goods in the form of imposing the following fines and measures:
- penalties in the amount of four hundred to eight hundred thousand rubles;
- forced social work for a period of up to five years;
- fines in the amount of a person’s salary for the last one to three years;
- collection of funds in the amount of one million rubles, that is, the average income of an entrepreneur for five years, and, in addition, a possible imprisonment of up to six years.
Conclusion
Thus, the tobacco business is a very profitable activity. But this product requires compulsory labeling and a license to sell it, otherwise significant fines await offenders, or, even worse, imprisonment.
We examined whether a cigarette license is needed.