A. No retail tobacco permittee shall sell to or allow the use of any retail tobacco product on the permitted premises by any person whom the retail tobacco permittee knows or has reason at the time to believe is younger than 21 years of age.

B. The following conduct upon any retail tobacco establishment is prohibited: sale, distribution, importation for resale, or offering for sale a liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product for retail sale in the Commonwealth unless such liquid nicotine or nicotine vapor product is included in the directory established by the Attorney General pursuant to § 59.1-293.15 of the Code of Virginia.

A. In determining whether a retail tobacco permittee or the retail tobacco permittee's employee or agent has reason to believe that a purchaser is not of legal age, the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority will consider:

1. Whether an ordinary and prudent person would have reason to doubt that the purchaser is of legal age based on the general appearance, facial characteristics, behavior, and manner of the purchaser; and

2. Whether the purchaser presented valid identification as defined in subsection B of this section.

B. Such bona fide evidence of legal age shall include a valid motor vehicle driver's license issued by any state of the United States or the District of Columbia, armed forces identification card, United States passport or foreign government visa, valid special identification card issued by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, or any valid identification issued by any other federal or state government agency, excluding student university and college identification cards, provided such identification shall contain a photograph and signature of the subject and the subject's date of birth.

C. It shall be incumbent upon the retail tobacco permittee or the retail tobacco permittee's employee or agent to scrutinize carefully the identification if presented and determine it to be authentic and in proper order. Identification that has been altered so as to be apparent to observation or has expired shall be deemed not in proper order.

A. Each retail tobacco permittee, except a permitted individual who is on the premises, shall have a designated manager present and in actual charge of the business being conducted under the retail tobacco permit at any time the permitted establishment is kept open for business, whether or not the privileges of the retail tobacco permit are being exercised. The name of the retail tobacco permittee's designated manager shall be kept posted in a conspicuous place in the establishment, in letters not less than one inch in size, during the time the designated manager is in charge.

The posting of the name of a designated manager shall qualify such person to act in that capacity until disapproved by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (authority).

B. The authority reserves the right to disapprove any person as a designated manager if it shall have reasonable cause to believe that any condition exists that would justify the authority in refusing to issue such person a retail tobacco permit or in suspending or revoking a retail tobacco permit granted to such person.

Before disapproving a designated manager, the authority shall accord such designated manager the same notice and opportunity to be heard and follow the same administrative procedures accorded a retail tobacco permittee cited for a violation of Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia.

C. No retail tobacco permittee of the authority shall knowingly permit a person younger than 21 years of age, nor one who has been disapproved by the authority within the preceding 12 months, to act as designated manager of the retail tobacco permittee’s business.

D. The authority will not take action to suspend or revoke a retail tobacco permit if a retail tobacco permittee knowingly employs a person who has been convicted in any court of a felony or of any crime or offense involving moral turpitude, except in the following two categories:

1. The authority may suspend or revoke a retail tobacco permit if a retail tobacco permittee knowingly employs in the business conducted under such permit, as agent, servant, or employee in a position that is involved in the selling of retail tobacco products to customers, any person who has been convicted of a felony violation of the laws of the Commonwealth prohibiting the manufacture, sale, distribution, use, or possession of controlled substances, imitation controlled substances, counterfeit controlled substances, cannabis, or synthetic cannabinoids; driving under the influence of alcohol or other self-administered intoxicants; or a similar offense under the laws of any state, or the United States; or

2. The authority may suspend or revoke a retail tobacco permit if a retail tobacco permittee knowingly employs in the business conducted under such permit, as agent, servant, or employee in a position that is involved in the creation or maintenance of records required to be kept by the retail tobacco permittee under the provisions of Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia or authority regulations or in the preparation or filing of any tax return or report required under Title 4.1 or Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia or authority regulations, any person who has been convicted of a felony violation of the laws of the Commonwealth prohibiting robbery, burglary, larceny, embezzlement, computer crimes, forgery, false pretenses, issuing bad checks, false representations to obtain property or credit, credit card forgery or fraud, or money laundering, or a similar offense under the laws of any state or the United States.

E. If a retail tobacco permittee wishes to employ a person whose employment would be covered by subdivision D 1 or D 2 of this section, or who has violated the laws of the Commonwealth, of any other state, or of the United States applicable to the manufacture, transportation, possession, use, or sale of retail tobacco products, the retail tobacco permittee may (i) immediately employ the individual if the offenses occurred more than five years preceding the date of employment or (ii) apply to the authority for approval of such employment if the offense occurred within five years preceding the date of employment. The authority will cause the Bureau of Law Enforcement Operations to conduct an investigation into the suitability of the person for employment and recommend approval or disapproval. Before disapproving the employment of a person, the authority shall accord the person the same notice and opportunity to be heard and follow the same administrative procedures accorded a retail tobacco permittee cited for a violation of Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia.

A. The construction, arrangement, and illumination of the retail tobacco permitted establishment shall be such as to permit ready access and reasonable observation by law-enforcement officers and by special agents of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (authority). The interior lighting shall be sufficient to permit ready discernment of the appearance and conduct of patrons in all portions of the establishment.

B. The authority and its special agents shall be allowed free access during reasonable hours to every place in the Commonwealth where retail tobacco products are offered for sale or sold for the purpose of examining and inspecting such place.

C. In addition to special agents, other law-enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties shall be allowed free access to any retail tobacco permitted establishment for the purpose of observation of activities on those retail tobacco permitted premises during reasonable hours.

D. Any person who by use of threats, force, or intimidation or otherwise impedes or obstructs any special agent or other law-enforcement officer in the performance of the agent's or officer's official duties from entering or remaining upon any retail tobacco permitted establishment shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter and shall be subject to the penalty prescribed by § 4.1-349 of the Code of Virginia.

E. For the purposes of this regulation, the term "reasonable hours" shall be deemed to include all business hours of operation and any other time at which there exists any indication of activity upon the retail tobacco permitted premises.

Persons to whom retail tobacco permits have been issued shall not allow any other person to receive a percentage of the income of the retail tobacco permitted business or have any beneficial interest in such business; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit:

1. The payment by the retail tobacco permittee of a franchise fee based in whole or in part upon a percentage of the entire gross receipts of the business conducted upon the retail tobacco permitted premises, where such is reasonable as compared to prevailing franchise fees of similar businesses;

2. Where the retail tobacco permitted business is conducted upon leased premises, and the lease when construed as a whole does not constitute a shift or device to evade the requirements of this section:

a. The payment of rent based in whole or in part upon a percentage of the entire gross receipts of the business, where such rent is reasonable as compared to prevailing rentals of similar businesses; and

b. The landlord from imposing standards relating to the conduct of the business upon the leased premises, where such standards are reasonable as compared to prevailing standards in leases of similar businesses and do not unreasonably restrict the control of the retail tobacco permittee over the sale retail tobacco products; or

3. The payment by the retail tobacco permittee of a management fee based in whole or in part upon a percentage of the entire gross receipts of the business conducted under the retail tobacco permit where the retail tobacco permittee has contracted with a management company or promoter to perform operational duties on behalf of the retail tobacco permittee, provided that:

a. All payments to any management company or promoter are less than 10% in aggregate of the gross receipts of the business conducted under the retail tobacco permit; and

b. The retail tobacco permittee provides the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (authority) a copy of the contract between the retail tobacco permittee and the management company or promoter that identifies the management company or promoter as an agent of the retail tobacco permittee for the purposes of exercising the privileges of the retail tobacco permit and holds the retail tobacco permittee liable for any violations of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (§ 4.1-100 of the Code of Virginia) or authority regulation committed by the management company or promoter.

A. All retail tobacco permittees shall keep complete, accurate, and separate records for a period of three years. The records shall include all invoices of the purchases and sales of retail tobacco products and other merchandise The records shall be available for inspection and copying by any member of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (authority) or its special agents during reasonable hours. Retail tobacco permittees may use any available technologies for the storage of their records and may store them off site, provided the records are readily subject to retrieval and made available for viewing on a screen or in hard copy by the authority or its special agents at the retail tobacco permitted premises between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. or any time the retail tobacco permittee is open to the public. At any other time of day, if the retail tobacco permittee's records are not available for inspection, the retail tobacco permittee shall provide the records to a special agent of the authority within 24 hours after a request is made to inspect the records.

The authority and its special agents shall be allowed free access during reasonable hours to every place in the Commonwealth where retail tobacco products are offered for sale or sold for the purpose of examining and inspecting all records, invoices, and accounts.

"Reasonable hours" include all business hours of operation and any other time at which there exists any indication of activity upon the retail tobacco permittee's premises.

B. The records of retail tobacco products shall be kept separate and apart from other records and shall include all purchases of the retail tobacco products, the dates of such purchases, the kinds and quantities of retail tobacco products purchased, the prices charged for the retail tobacco products, and the names and addresses of the persons from whom purchased.

Additionally, each retail tobacco permittee shall keep accurate accounts of daily sales showing quantities of retail tobacco products sold and the prices charged for such items.

C. Any changes in the officers, directors, or shareholders owning 10% or more of the outstanding capital stock if the retail tobacco permittee is a corporation, or if the retail tobacco permittee is a limited liability company, any changes in member-managers or any members owning 10% or more of the membership interest of the limited liability company shall be reported to the authority within 30 days; provided, however, that corporations or their wholly owned subsidiaries whose corporate common stock is publicly traded and owned shall not be required to report changes in shareholders owning 10% or more of the outstanding capital stock.

Employees of a retail tobacco permittee shall not receive compensation based directly, in whole or in part, upon the volume of retail tobacco product sales only; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a bona fide compensation plan based upon the total volume of sales of the business, including receipts from the sale of retail tobacco products.

A. Any retail tobacco permittee charged with any violation of Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (authority) regulations or statutes listed in this subsection, if the retail tobacco permittee has no other pending charges and has not had any substantiated violations of regulation or statute within the three years immediately preceding the date of the violation, may accept an offer by the authority extended in writing to enter a written waiver of hearing and (i) accept the period of retail tobacco permit suspension set forth in this subsection for the violation or (ii) pay the civil charge set forth in this subsection for the violation in lieu of suspension.

B. For a retail tobacco permittee that operates more than one retail establishment, each such establishment shall be considered a separate retail tobacco permittee for the purpose of this section.

A. In accordance with § 4.1-250 D 4 of the Code of Virginia, whenever the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (authority) finds that a charge against a retail tobacco permittee for a violation listed in this subsection is substantiated, the retail tobacco permittee has had no prior violations within five years immediately preceding the date of the subject violation, and the subject violation was not willful and knowing, the authority may enter an order substantiating the violation without imposing a penalty. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to the following violations:

1. Keeping unauthorized retail tobacco products on the premises;

2. No designated manager on premises;

3. Inadequate illumination;

4. Designated manager not posted;

5. Person younger than 18 years of age selling retail tobacco products;

6. Sale of retail tobacco products in unauthorized place or manner; and

7. Failure to place signage in a conspicuous manner and place indicating that sale of retail tobacco products to any person younger than 21 years of age is prohibited by law.

B. Whenever any retail tobacco permittee who has not had any substantiated violations of regulation or statute within the previous five years is charged with a violation, the authority, if the facts found by the authority would justify a finding that the charge is substantiated but is not a willful and knowing violation, with the consent of the retail tobacco permittee, may defer further proceedings and place the retail tobacco permittee on probation upon terms and conditions.

As a term or condition, the authority shall require the retail tobacco permittee to comply with all retail tobacco laws and regulations during the period of probation. Upon violation of a term or condition, the authority may enter an adjudication that the charge is substantiated and proceed as otherwise provided. Upon fulfillment of the terms and conditions, the authority shall dismiss the proceedings against the retail tobacco permittee. Dismissal under this section shall be without adjudication of the charge and is a substantiated violation only for the purposes of applying this section in subsequent proceedings.

A. At the time of application, each applicant for a retail tobacco permit must certify at the time of application that the permittee has conducted education and training for its employees related to:

1. The provisions of § 59.1-293.12 of the Code of Virginia;

2. The prohibitions on the sale of retail tobacco products to persons younger than 21 years of age and other restrictions prescribed by §§ 18.2-246.8, 18.2-246.10, and 18.2-371.2 of the Code of Virginia;

3. Forms of identification that are acceptable as proof of age; and

4. The legal penalties that may be incurred for violation of the provisions of law identified in subdivisions 1 and 2 of this subsection.

B. At the time of permit renewal, each retail tobacco permittee must recertify at the time of renewal that the permittee has conducted education and training for its employees related to the provisions outlined in subsection A of this section.

A. "Internet Retail Tobacco Permittee" means an entity, whether in state or out-of-state, that sells retail tobacco products as defined in § 4.1-100 of the Code of Virginia, where in consideration of payment, internet or telephone orders are taken and shipped directly to consumers.

B. A retail tobacco permit is necessary prior to making sales into or within the Commonwealth via internet or telephone orders. Any out-of-state entity that wishes to sell retail tobacco products within the Commonwealth must first obtain a retail tobacco permit from the authority.

Retail Tobacco Permit Application (rev. 7/2026)