Cigarette and Tobacco Products Inspection Program

The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act (CTPLA) of 2003 authorizes the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to inspect California retail, wholesale and distributor businesses selling cigarettes and tobacco products. The CDTFA Inspections Section conducts regular inspections to ensure these businesses are in compliance with tobacco tax laws, and will seize any untaxed or otherwise illicit cigarette and tobacco products. Among other reviews, CDTFA Inspectors will check to see if:

  • You have a CDTFA license to sell cigarettes and tobacco products.
  • You purchased your cigarettes and tobacco products from a CDTFA licensed wholesaler or distributor, and have supporting purchase/sales invoices for your current inventory.
  • Your cigarette inventory has valid California tax stamps affixed, do not include flavored cigarettes (menthol exempt), are listed on the California Tobacco Directory and comply with the low ignition propensity "fire safe cigarette" (FSC) requirements of California.
  • The California excise tax was paid on all other tobacco products in your inventory.

"Untaxed" cigarettes include cigarettes without tax stamps, cigarettes affixed with counterfeit, reused or other state stamps, cigarette packs (stamped or unstamped) that are marked "Not for sale in the United States," or cigarettes to which cigarette tax stamps are affixed in violation of the specified prohibitions under the Master Settlement Agreement (Revenue & Taxation Code section 30165.1). Untaxed tobacco includes tobacco products in inventory for which there are no valid purchase invoices that show excise taxes paid.

The table below reflects the results of inspections conducted by the Inspections Section and is updated monthly. Prior fiscal years' inspection figures can be viewed using the links at the bottom of this page. Inspection figures include retail, wholesale, and distributor business locations.

Fiscal Year 2023-24 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
July 321 16 993 15 23,930
August 273 12 81,647 16 16,967
September 268 16 1,452 24 88,460
October 353 17 1,592 22 47,656
November          
December          
January          
February          
March          
April          
May          
June          
Total 1,215 61 85,684 77 177,013

  • Fiscal Year 2022-23 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 278 36 9,543 10 6,695
    August 370 31 1,566 12 363,845
    September 154 4 198 8 92,722
    October 168 19 3,332 10 84,632
    November 94 12 624 7 7,200
    December 119 8 466 4 2,302
    January 182 11 405 8 5,660
    February 207 9 333 11 7,400
    March 290 20 1,098 8 17,227
    April 178 13 4775 9 19,632
    May 300 16 1514 14 98,383
    June 288 8 3733 17 40,360
    Total 2,628 187 27,587 118 746,056
  • Fiscal Year 2021-22 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 670 7 132 29 32,980
    August 770 12 524 27 37,967
    September 875 11 648 25 104,159
    October 734 6 461 25 60,220
    November 639 3 96 12 6,319
    December 661 6 1,680 13 15,582
    January 461 4 237 16 23,429
    February 706 11 565 13 12,361
    March 421 3 67 17 16,975
    April 509 7 344 16 40,484
    May 465 1 102 10 7,844
    June 401 2 35 14 13,909
    Total 7,312 73 4,891 217 372,229
  • Fiscal Year 2020-21 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 136 4 731 24 143,952
    August 308 6 2,795 37 153,347
    September 407 8 418 37 41,621
    October 339 6 1,644 31 28,872
    November 382 1 10 29 33,911
    December 144 0 0 6 11,601
    January 48 0 0 3 1,527
    February 512 2 75 44 39,386
    March 360 5 347 18 14,669
    April 480 6 248 38 22,841
    May 695 8 615 38 41,854
    June 686 5 116 22 11,106
    Total 4,497 51 6,999 327 544,687
  • Fiscal Year 2019-20 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 903 13 3,955 8 4,386
    August 919 12 392 20 52,540
    September 748 9 629 20 61,966
    October 875 12 2,650 46 138,767
    November 571 15 9,677 32 191,899
    December 526 8 400 20 25,560
    January 647 9 483 34 60,818
    February 591 3 167 6 50,787
    March 164 4 1,991 8 7,168
    April 0 0 0 0 0
    May 0 0 0 0 0
    June 187 4 9,227 21 26,746
    Total 6,131 89 29,571 215 620,637
  • Fiscal Year 2018-19 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 786 14 1,132 6 3,684
    August 870 16 17,160 9 9,831
    September 825 16 47,677 6 5,292
    October 1,177 29 4,785 10 9,026
    November 956 16 689 10 14,994
    December 1,020 16 1,381 5 3,496
    January 1,245 14 2,267 8 6,633
    February 1,097 15 1,056 9 8,369
    March 988 13 1,751 9 6,291
    April 1,171 17 1,065 5 3,503
    May 1,100 20 24,217 5 2,288
    June 1,053 16 85,035 10 5,167
    Total 12,288 202 188,215 92 78,574
  • Fiscal Year 2017-18 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 918 2 169 7 $ 6,050
    August 937 3 12,423 1 482
    September 645 6 1,317 1 96
    October 957 5 786 5 3,309
    November 846 9 5,291 5 2,452
    December 1,176 7 1,036 5 2,169
    January 1,381 9 8,517 10 8,961
    February 625 5 430 2 1,575
    March 1,311 14 2,628 5 1,576
    April 1,101 6 4,666 5 1,909
    May 1,151 4 1,282 9 7,456
    June 771 5 968 11 3,919
    Total 11,819 75 39,513 66 $39,954
  • Fiscal Year 2016-17 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 932 8 30,763 2 $ 250
    August 1,229 7 18,162 4 299
    September 1,013 4 1,562 5 879
    October 1,069 3 620 6 1,941
    November 981 0 0 2 805
    December 931 6 9,197 6 3,424
    January 951 2 619 11 10,718
    February 970 5 287,100 6 1,359
    March 969 4 516 5 50,247
    April 601 1 171 6 3,196
    May 722 5 2,159 2 1,373
    June 565 6 13,710 5 573
    Total 10,933 51 364,579 60 $ 75,064
  • Fiscal Year 2015-16 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 986 8 9,795 5 $ 518,791
    August 1,045 6 1,141 8 4,313
    September 1,057 8 26,637 5 1,809
    October 980 5 43,890 4 33,570
    November 795 2 109 5 1,582
    December 931 3 4,127 4 23,363
    January 706 1 36 2 546
    February 991 11 40,683 11 8,264
    March 1,021 7 1,360 10 1,558
    April 1,126 3 4,310 5 2,798
    May 871 8 1,180 9 4,700
    June 795 5 4,048 8 840,949
    Total 11,304 67 137,316 76 $ 1, 442,243
  • Fiscal Year 2014-15 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 936 4 818 10 $ 3,889
    August 890 5 926 11 6,603
    September 934 5 150 13 4,552
    October 1,018 6 1,225 12 3,663
    November 742 4 183 18 3,475
    December 727 3 2,640 10 2,837
    January 663 7 10,663 6 3,294
    February 854 5 328 14 11,931
    March 863 5 2,202 9 9,836
    April 1,157 4 61 15 32,794
    May 923 2 37 10 14,030
    June 1,063 8 6,556 4 845
    Total 10,770 58 25,789 132 $ 97,749
  • Fiscal Year 2013-14 Number of Inspections Number of Cigarette Seizures Total Packs of Cigarettes Seized Number of Tobacco Product Seizures Total Wholesale Cost of Tobacco Seized
    July 1,127 10 2,218 13 $ 7,367
    August 937 11 38,503 13 12,947
    September 916 22 9,639 16 11,992
    October 898 14 17,168 17 5,496
    November 825 18 1,746 10 5,146
    December 675 12 2,569 6 927
    January 487 7 511 6 4,557
    February 748 10 2,512 5 3,848
    March 747 4 1,099 2 227
    April 1,052 7 311 9 3,221
    May 1,219 5 1,097 12 3,152
    June 908 0 0 7 4,156
    Total 10,539 120 77,373 116 $ 63,036

Note: As a result of the Taxpayer Transparency and Fairness Act of 2017, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) replaced the Board of Equalization (BOE) as administrator of this program, effective July 1, 2017.