Tobacco Export Warehouse--Record of Operations (TTB REC 5220/1)

In general, chapter 52 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC, 26 U.S.C. chapter 52) imposes Federal excise tax on all tobacco products and cigarette papers and tubes manufactured in, or imported into, the United States, while exempting such articles removed for export, as well as all processed tobacco, from that tax. Export warehouses receive and store such non-taxpaid articles until they are removed without payment of tax for export to a foreign country, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, or for consumption beyond the internal revenue laws of the United States. To protect the revenue, the IRC at 26 U.S.C. 5741 requires tobacco industry members, including export warehouse proprietors, to keep records as the Secretary of the Treasury prescribes by regulation. Under that IRC authority, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) regulations in 27 CFR part 44 require export warehouse proprietors to keep records showing the date, kind, quantity, and manufacturer of all tobacco products, cigarette papers and tubes, and processed tobacco received, removed, transferred, destroyed, lost, or returned to the manufacturer or to a customs bonded warehouse proprietor. The required records are necessary to protect the revenue as they allow transactions involving non-taxpaid articles to be traced and verified to ensure that no Federal excise tax liabilities were incurred through the diversion of such articles to taxable uses.

The latest form for Tobacco Export Warehouse--Record of Operations (TTB REC 5220/1) expires 2022-10-31 and can be found here.