Indiana Is Changing Other Tobacco Products Tax Filing in 2027

Indiana is replacing its current Other Tobacco Products filing structure beginning Jan. 1, 2027. The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) will adopt the Federation of Tax Administrators Uniformity Standards for OTP, replacing the OTP-M return with a resident and non-resident split. 

Distributors, manufacturers, and remote sellers filing in Indiana need to understand the new forms, transaction-level reporting requirements, and XML filing process before the effective date. 

What’s Changing

Indiana’s current OTP-M return and its supporting schedule are going away. In their place, the DOR is introducing two distinct excise tax returns based on distributor residency status. 

• OTP-RM: Other Tobacco Products Resident Distributors Excise Tax Return 
• OTP-NRM: Other Tobacco Products Non-Resident Distributors Excise Tax Return 
• OTP-M-S: Other Tobacco Products Schedule, filed alongside OTP-RM or OTP-NRM 
• CT-19: Monthly Report of Cigarettes Stamped and Roll-Your-Own Tobacco Purchased, continuing under the updated framework

The adoption of Federation of The Uniformity Standards creates greater consistency in how OTP transaction data is structured and reported. 

New XML Schemas and Filing Requirements

The DOR has published updated XML schemas, schema definitions, business rules documentation, and a sample return file specific to the 2027 OTP structure. Filers creating their own electronic files will need to use the new schema set rather than the legacy OTP-M schema. 

Current submission thresholds will continue: 

• Files under 10 MB: key returns manually in INTIME, or build an XML file and upload it through INTIME 
• Files exceeding 10 MB: build an XML file and submit it via SFTP bulk upload 

Electronic filing remains mandatory for any manufacturer, distributor, or remote seller of other tobacco products in Indiana. 

The larger change is that under the Uniformity Standard, individual purchase and sale records must be reported using the appropriate schedule codes and Indiana state schedule codes. 

That means filers must accurately extract transaction data, place each record on the correct schedule, apply the required codes, format the data according to Indiana’s schema, and resolve any errors identified by the state’s business rules. 

Manual entry may remain manageable for a distributor with only a few transactions. For businesses processing purchases and sales every day, however, manually preparing transaction-level data for XML filing quickly becomes impractical. 

How IGEN Handles the New Schema

IGEN Tax Reporting builds the compliant XML e-file for OTP-RM, OTP-NRM, OTP-M-S and CT-19 directly from transaction data. The platform applies the correct schedule code and state schedule code to every line automatically, with no spreadsheet reformatting and no manual code mapping. Distributors run the return, download the finished XML file, and upload it to the Indiana INTIME portal or via SFTP to complete the filing. 

Tax Reporting eliminates the part of the process that consumes the most time and carries the most risk of error. Distributors evaluating how to handle Indiana’s January 2027 switch, including the shift to a resident or non-resident return based on distributor classification, can see how Tax Reporting handles the transition on the IGEN Tax Reporting product page. 

This analysis is intended for informational purposes only and is not tax advice.  For tax advice, consult your tax adviser. See the full disclaimer here.