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Selling or giving cigarettes to anyone under 21 is prohibited in Puerto Rico

Last reviewed: September 4, 2026 — VerifiedPolicía de PR

In short

Act 21 of April 13, 1916, as amended, prohibits the sale or donation of cigars, cigarettes, tobacco, and of any kind of material — regardless of what it is made of — that serves to roll any kind of cut tobacco for the preparation of cigarettes, cigars, or flavored cigarettes, as defined by Act 62-1993, as amended, to children of any sex under twenty-one (21) years of age. The violation shall be punished with a fine of no more than one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment for no more than ninety days, or both penalties, for the first time; and double these penalties shall apply in cases of repeat offense. Two things people take for granted that the law states differently: the age is twenty-one, not eighteen; and the prohibition covers donation, not only sale.

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What is it?

It is the criminal prohibition on giving tobacco to anyone under twenty-one in Puerto Rico. It is an old law — from 1916 — but it is compiled with amendments and its current text sets the age at twenty-one and reaches both sale and donation, plus rolling material.

Who can do it?

The prohibition protects every person under twenty-one (21). The duty falls on anyone who sells or gives away the products the law lists. Anyone who witnesses the sale may go to the Police; the offense does not require the reporter to be a relative of the minor.

Requirements

Documents you need

Information pending verification.

Cost

This procedure has no cost.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Confirm the age the law sets: twenty-one

    The current compiled text prohibits sale or donation “to children of any sex under twenty-one (21) years of age.” If a merchant tells you eighteen is enough, they are citing a version the amended law left behind.

  2. Step 2: Note that “donating” is also prohibited

    The law says “the sale or the donation.” Giving a cigarette to someone under twenty-one falls within the prohibition just as selling it does. There is no family-relationship exception in the text.

  3. Step 3: Rolling material counts

    The prohibition reaches “any kind of material, regardless of what it is made of, that serves to roll any kind of cut tobacco for the preparation of cigarettes, cigars, or flavored cigarettes.” That part is the one almost nobody knows and the one most often breached at counters.

  4. Step 4: What penalty it carries and how to report it

    The violation is punished with a fine of no more than one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment for no more than ninety days, or both, for the first time; double on repeat. Because it is a criminal violation, the route is a complaint before the Puerto Rico Police, which we cover step by step in its own guide. Note date, time, business and what was sold.

  5. Step 5: The other law: the business loses its licence for twelve months and pays $10,000

    This guide used to say we had not read the Internal Revenue Code and therefore said nothing about licences or administrative fines. We have now read it, and there is a second regime running parallel to the 1916 one that hits far harder. Act 36-2026 amended Section 6042.08 of the 2011 Internal Revenue Code: the licence to traffic in cigarettes — wholesale or retail — or any other cigarette-related licence shall be suspended for a term of twelve (12) months, and an administrative fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per incident shall be imposed, without prejudice to the Act to Correct the Exploitation of Underage Children of 25 February 1902, on the natural or juridical person, or owner or manager of a business or commercial establishment, that sells, donates, dispenses, dispatches or distributes those products to people under twenty-one (21).

  6. Step 6: Attempting is now enough, and pushing a minor to buy it too

    These are the two extensions Act 36-2026 brought, and they are worth reading carefully because they change what conduct counts. First: the sanction reaches anyone who not only sells, donates, dispenses, dispatches or distributes, but who “attempts unequivocal acts immediately directed at selling, donating, dispensing or distributing” those products. Second: it also reaches anyone who induces, advises, incites, persuades, tempts, manipulates, coerces or helps — or attempts to — a person under twenty-one to acquire cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco or any inhaled or chewed tobacco preparation, and any rolling material. Note one difference from the 1916 law: here e-cigarettes are expressly named.

  7. Step 7: The rule of 27 and the product out of reach

    Two operating rules a merchant needs to know and a customer does well to know. Section 6042.08(b)(1) extends the sanction to sales to “any person who does not appear to be over twenty-seven (27) years of age, who does not present any photo identification facially appearing valid showing the person is over twenty-one (21), whether for their own consumption or a third party’s”. That is: the threshold for asking for ID is twenty-seven, not twenty-one. And it adds that every transaction with those products must be made directly and immediately between the two parties, so the product is not within reach of the person trying to acquire it, whether by sitting on a counter or in a self-service device, except as provided in Section 3050.01(e) of the same Code, which we did not read.

Where to do it

The Puerto Rico Police is the door for the criminal complaint under Act 21 of 1916. The licence suspension and the $10,000 administrative fine are a different matter: they live in Section 6042.08 of the Internal Revenue Code, the law the Treasury Department administers, and the law does not publish who adjudicates that procedure or at which office it starts. We do not invent it: if your claim is about the business’s licence, ask at Treasury. If the product is an e-cigarette or vape, Act 41-2015 has its own regime and its own guide, although Section 6042.08 names them too.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

There are two laws here, and they should not be mixed. Act 21 of 1916 sets the criminal prohibition and its penalty — a fine of no more than $100 or up to ninety days, or both, and double on repeat — and mentions no licences, administrative fines or age verification; we will not attribute those to it. Section 6042.08 of the Internal Revenue Code, as Act 36-2026 left it, is what carries the twelve-month licence suspension, the $10,000 administrative fine per incident, the rule of asking for ID from anyone who does not appear to be over twenty-seven, and the rule of keeping the product out of the customer’s reach. We updated this guide on 28 August 2026 to close that gap, which we previously declared open. What we still have not read: Act 62-1993, which defines “flavored cigarettes”; the rest of the Internal Revenue Code, including Section 3050.01(e) to which the section itself refers as an exception, the licence procedure and who adjudicates the suspension; the 1902 Act to Correct the Exploitation of Underage Children; and any Health Department regulation. The Statement of Motives of Act 36-2026 mentions that ASSMCA keeps a phone line for confidential tips about establishments selling tobacco to minors, but prints no number, so we publish none. And this guide does not cover the Act 41-2015 regime on e-cigarettes, which has its own guide. A note we added on 4 September 2026: Joint Regulation No. 9473 of 16 June 2023, in its Chapter 4.5 on cigarette licences, prints the sale prohibition at under eighteen, not twenty-one, although it repeats the rule of asking for ID from anyone who does not appear to be over twenty-seven and the rule of not leaving the product within the customer’s reach. We do not resolve the discrepancy between that regulation and the statutes; we record it here and in the guide on the licence to sell cigarettes, and we advise — our advice — not to sell to anyone under twenty-one.

Common mistakes

  • Believing the age is eighteen: the current text says under twenty-one (21).
  • Thinking only selling is banned: the law prohibits sale or donation.
  • Ignoring that rolling material is included, even without tobacco in it.
  • Confusing this law with the e-cigarette one: they are separate statutes.
  • Stopping at the 1916 law’s $100 fine: Section 6042.08 of the Internal Revenue Code suspends the licence for twelve months and imposes $10,000 per incident.
  • Believing the sale must be completed: Section 6042.08 also reaches the attempt through unequivocal acts immediately directed at selling, donating, dispensing or distributing.
  • Asking for ID only from those who look under 21: the rule is to ask anyone who does not appear to be over twenty-seven (27).
  • Leaving the product on the counter or in self-service: the law requires the transaction to be direct and immediate and the product not to be within reach of the person trying to acquire it.
  • Not noting date, time and business: without that the complaint has no footing.

Frequently asked questions

Is the legal age to buy cigarettes in Puerto Rico 18 or 21?

Twenty-one. The current compiled text of Act 21 of 1916, as amended, prohibits the sale or donation of these products to anyone under twenty-one (21).

Can I give a cigarette to someone under 21 if I do not sell it?

No. The prohibition covers “the sale or the donation.” Donating is expressly prohibited in the same text.

Is rolling paper included?

The law prohibits selling or giving to anyone under twenty-one any kind of material, regardless of what it is made of, that serves to roll any kind of cut tobacco for preparing cigarettes, cigars or flavored cigarettes.

What is the penalty?

It depends which law. Under Act 21 of 1916: a fine of no more than one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment for no more than ninety days, or both, for the first time, and double on repeat. Under Section 6042.08 of the Internal Revenue Code, per Act 36-2026: suspension of the cigarette trafficking licence for twelve (12) months and an administrative fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per incident, without prejudice to the Act to Correct the Exploitation of Underage Children.

I am a merchant. Whom do I have to ask for ID?

Section 6042.08(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, per Act 36-2026, extends the sanction to sales to any person who does not appear to be over twenty-seven (27) and who does not present photo identification facially appearing valid showing they are over twenty-one (21), whether for their own consumption or a third party’s. The threshold for asking is twenty-seven.

An adult bought the cigarettes for a minor. Is there a sanction?

Section 6042.08(b)(2), per Act 36-2026, reaches anyone who induces, advises, incites, persuades, tempts, manipulates, coerces or helps — or attempts to — a person under twenty-one to acquire these products. And subsection (b)(1) expressly covers a sale made “whether for their own consumption or a third party’s”.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 4, 2026

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