ORS 323.500: Definitions for ORS 323.500 to 323.645.
Edition: 2025 EditionEffective: 2026-01-01Last verified: 2026-09-07
As used in ORS 323.500 to 323.645, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) “Business” means any trade, occupation, activity or enterprise engaged in for the purpose of selling or distributing tobacco products in this state. (2) “Cigar” means a roll for smoking that is of any size or shape and that is made wholly or in part of tobacco, irrespective of whether the tobacco is pure or flavored, adulterated or mixed with any other ingredient, if the roll has a wrapper made wholly or in greater part of tobacco and if 1,000 of these rolls collectively weigh more than three pounds. “Cigar” does not include a cigarette, as defined in ORS 323.010. (3) “Consumer” means any person who purchases tobacco products in this state for the person’s use or consumption or for any purpose other than for reselling the tobacco products to another person. (4) “Contraband tobacco products” means tobacco products or packages containing tobacco products: (a) That do not comply with the requirements of ORS 323.500 to 323.645; (b) That do not comply with the requirements of the tobacco products tax laws of the federal government or of other states; (c) That bear trademarks that are counterfeit under ORS 647.135 or other state or federal trademark laws; or (d) That have been sold, offered for sale or possessed for sale in this state in violation of ORS 180.486. (5) “Department” means the Department of Revenue. (6) “Distribute” means: (a) Bringing, or causing to be brought, into this state from without this state tobacco products for sale, storage, use or consumption; (b) Making, manufacturing or fabricating tobacco products in this state for sale, storage, use or consumption in this state; (c) Shipping or transporting tobacco products to retail dealers in this state, to be sold, stored, used or consumed by those retail dealers; (d) Storing untaxed tobacco products in this state that are intended to be for sale, use or consumption in this state; (e) Selling untaxed tobacco products in this state; or (f) As a consumer, being in possession of untaxed tobacco products in this state. (7) “Distributor” means: (a) Any person engaged in the business of selling tobacco products in this state who brings, or causes to be brought, into this state from without the state any tobacco products for sale; (b) Any person who makes, manufactures or fabricates tobacco products in this state for sale in this state; (c) Any person engaged in the business of selling tobacco products without this state who ships or transports tobacco products to retail dealers in this state, to be sold by those retail dealers; (d) Any person, including a retail dealer, who sells untaxed tobacco products in this state; or (e) A consumer in possession of untaxed tobacco products in this state. (8)(a) “Inhalant delivery system” means: (A) A device that can be used to deliver nicotine in the form of a vapor or aerosol to a person inhaling from the device; or (B) A component of a device described in this paragraph or a substance in any form sold for the purpose of being vaporized or aerosolized by a device described in this paragraph, whether the component or substance is sold separately or is not sold separately. (b) “Inhalant delivery system” does not include: (A) Any product that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for sale as a tobacco cessation product or for any other therapeutic purpose, if the product is marketed and sold solely for the approved purpose; (B) If sold separately, battery chargers, straps or lanyards; or (C) Marijuana items as defined in ORS 475C.009. (9) “Manufacturer” means a person who manufactures tobacco products for sale. (10) “Moist snuff” means: (a) Any finely cut, ground or powdered tobacco that is not intended to be smoked or placed in a nasal cavity; or (b) Any other product containing tobacco that is intended or expected to be consumed without being combusted. (11)(a) “Oral nicotine product” means any noncombustible product that: (A) Contains nicotine derived from any source, or a nicotine analog; and (B) Is intended for human consumption via the oral cavity by any means other than inhalation. (b) “Oral nicotine product” does not include: (A) Moist snuff; or (B) Any product regulated as a drug or device by the United States Food and Drug Administration under chapter V of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 351 et seq.). (12) “Place of business” means any place where tobacco products are sold or where tobacco products are manufactured, stored or kept for the purpose of sale or consumption, including any vessel, vehicle, airplane, train or vending machine. (13) “Retail dealer” means any person who is engaged in the business of selling or otherwise dispensing tobacco products to consumers. The term also includes the operators of or recipients of revenue from all places such as smoke shops, cigar stores and vending machines, where tobacco products are made or stored for ultimate sale to consumers. (14) “Sale” means any transfer, exchange or barter, in any manner or by any means, for a consideration, and includes and means all sales made by any person. It includes a gift by a person engaged in the business of selling tobacco products, for advertising, as a means of evading the provisions of ORS 323.500 to 323.645, or for any other purpose. (15) “Taxpayer” includes a distributor or other person required to pay a tax imposed under ORS 323.500 to 323.645. (16) “Tobacco products” means cigars, cheroots, stogies, periques, granulated, plug cut, crimp cut, ready rubbed and other smoking tobacco, snuff, snuff flour, moist snuff, cavendish, plug and twist tobacco, fine-cut and other chewing tobaccos, shorts, refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings and sweepings of tobacco and other kinds and forms of tobacco, prepared in such manner as to be suitable for chewing or smoking in a pipe or otherwise, or both for chewing and smoking, oral nicotine products and inhalant delivery systems, but does not include cigarettes as defined in ORS 323.010. (17) “Untaxed tobacco products” means tobacco products for which the tax required under ORS 323.500 to 323.645 has not been paid. (18) “Wholesale sales price” means the price paid for untaxed tobacco products to or on behalf of a seller by a purchaser of the untaxed tobacco products. [1985 c.816 §15; 2001 c.982 §2; 2003 c.804 §31; 2009 c.717 §1; 2019 c.525 §11; 2025 c.581 §4]
Administrative rules citing this section
- OAR 150-323-0307: Oral Nicotine Products — implements
- OAR 150-323-0310: Definition of Moist Snuff — implements
This rule cites
- ORS 323.500 — resolved
- 323.645 — resolved
- ORS 323.010 — resolved
- ORS 647.135 — resolved
- ORS 180.486 — resolved
Cited by
- ORS 180.405: Definitions.
- ORS 180.468: Definitions.
- ORS 180.483: Distributor obligations; Attorney General and Department of Revenue information sharing; nonparticipating manufacturer escrow requirements.
- ORS 323.510: Dates for payment of tax; returns; extension; interest.
- ORS 323.525: Security; amount.
- ORS 323.530: Issuance of license; display; appeal of license denial.
- ORS 323.538: Wholesale sales invoices; requirements; presumptions; penalty.
- ORS 323.540: Records; contents; retention; examination.
- ORS 323.560: Credit of tax for tobacco products shipped out of state or returned to manufacturer.
- ORS 323.565: Exemption for sales to common carriers engaged in interstate or foreign passenger service; tax on carriers or persons authorized to sell tobacco products on the facilities of carriers.
- ORS 323.575: Administration and enforcement; rules and procedures.
- ORS 323.585: Penalty and interest for failure to pay tax or timely file return.
- ORS 323.595: Application of other statutes.
- ORS 323.597: Disclosure and sharing of information between Department of Revenue and Oregon Health Authority.
- ORS 323.600: Department determination of amount of tax; deficiency determinations; liens.
- ORS 323.605: Immediate determination and collection of tax.
- ORS 323.610: Collection of unpaid tax.
- ORS 323.613: Exchanges of information with other governmental units.
- ORS 323.615: Refund agreement with governing body of Indian reservation; appropriation for refunds.
- ORS 323.618: Venue; department certificate as evidence.
- ORS 323.619: Actions by Attorney General; limitation on actions; authority.
- ORS 323.620: Remedies cumulative.
- ORS 323.623: Appeals.
- ORS 323.625: Disposition of moneys other than inhalant delivery system revenues or oral nicotine product revenues.
- ORS 323.630: Civil and criminal penalties for violations of ORS 323.500 to 323.645; fine for preventing entry or examination.
- ORS 323.632: Offense of unlawful distribution of tobacco products; forfeiture.
- ORS 323.635: Penalties in ORS 323.630 and 323.632 additional to other penalties.
- ORS 323.645: Short title.
- ORS 323.700: Definitions for ORS 323.700 to 323.730.
- ORS 323.706: Requirements for persons accepting delivery sale purchase orders.
- ORS 323.715: Notice requirements for delivery sales.
- ORS 323.727: Penalties for violating ORS 323.700 to 323.730; seizure and forfeiture.
- ORS 323.810: Definitions for ORS 323.810 to 323.816.
- ORS 433.835: Definitions for ORS 433.835 to 433.875.
- OAR 150-323-0305: Inhalant Delivery Systems
- OAR 150-323-0307: Oral Nicotine Products
- OAR 150-323-0310: Definition of Moist Snuff
- OAR 150-323-0360: When Tobacco Product Distributor’s License Required
- OAR 150-323-0380: Other Tobacco Product (OTP) Distributor License Application Denial
- OAR 150-323-0390: Suspension or Revocation of Other Tobacco Product Distributors License; Appeal; Final Notification
- OAR 150-323-0420: Civil Penalties for Violation of Other Tobacco Products Tax
- OAR 150-323-0430: Civil Penalties for Failure to Pay Other Tobacco Products Tax
- OAR 333-015-0030: Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act: Definitions
Official source: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors323.html