Buy from the wrong seller and you're the distributor
A shop that buys cigars, snuff or other tobacco products from a seller without a Washington distributor license becomes the distributor and owes the tax, so keep every itemized invoice for five years; a reseller permit covers sales tax only (RCW 82.26.030, WAC 458-20-185(205) and (401)(b), WAC 458-20-102(1)).
Transcript
Sal For cigars, snuff and other tobacco products, the distributor who first has them in Washington owes the tax. But a shop that buys from a seller without a Washington distributor license, in state or out, becomes the distributor, and owes the tax itself.
Sal So keep every itemized invoice for five years. A retailer owes the tax on any tobacco products it can't show an invoice for.
Dana When Noor buys stock, he gives the distributor his reseller permit, so there's no sales tax on the invoice. The permit covers sales tax. The tobacco and vapor taxes are separate.