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Currently, the EU does not uniformly mandate member states to levy a consumption vape tax. Many countries now tax e-liquids based on how much is bought, adding it to their consumption tax categories. over half of the 27 EU member nations have implemented vape taxes.
The tax rates vary among European countries. Montenegro has a tax rate of €0.9/ml, making it among the highest-taxed countries currently known.
Germany, a wealthy EU country, will have a tax of €0.20/ml starting in 2024. They plan to increase it to €0.32/ml by 2026. This will make Germany one of the countries with high taxes on vaping products.
The article clearly indicates that nations typically implement four primary tax structures: specific taxation, ad valorem taxation, tiered taxation, and mixed taxation. Countries might impose taxes on all products and related items of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems/Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (including devices, accessories, and e-liquids), or they might solely tax e-liquids that contains nicotine (tax not related to nicotine content). The specific excise tax employed in these nations is almost invariably based on the quantity of e-liquid itself (measured in milliliters [mL], liters [L]) or the weight (measured in milligrams [mg], grams [g]).
Nicotine-containing e-liquids are taxed at ALL12 (approximately €0.10) per ml and will be subject to a progressive annual increase until 2026:
· From 1st January 2023: ALL14 (approximately €0.12) per ml
· From 1st January 2024: ALL16 (approximately €0.14) per ml
· From 1st January 2025: ALL18 (approximately €0.15) per ml
· From 1st January 2026: ALL20 (approximately €0.17) per ml
In Austria, there are no specific taxes imposed on e-cigarettes. However, the standard 20% rate of VAT (value-added tax) applies to all e-cigarette products.
According to the Tax Law amendment from December 2022, e-liquids are taxed in 2023 at a rate of BYR0.77(approximately €0.29) per ml. The law introduced the tax rate for e- cigarette devices - BYR2.72 (approximately €1) per piece.
As of January 1st, 2024, excise stamps and a tax rate of €0.15/ml, regardless of nicotine content, have been introduced for vapor products. All products released for consumption on or after January 1st must bear tax stamps, while those released for consumption before January 1st can remain on the market until June 30th, 2024.
No excise taxes have been imposed. Only 17% VAT applies.
In December 2022, Parliament approved an amendment the Law on Excise and Tax Warehouses to introduce excise duty and tax stamps for nicotine-containing e-cigarettes.
Both nicotine-free and nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are taxed at BGN0.35 (approximately £0.18) per ml, rising to BGN0.40(£0.20) from 1st January 2025, and BGN0.45 (approximately €0.23) from1st January 2026. Tax stamps are mandatory.
In 2016, the Tax Law established an HKR0/ml excise tax for all e-liquids. Currently, there are no plans to raise the tax rate. In addition, a VAT rate of 25% applies.
Under the Consumption Tax Law, e-liquids, whether nicotine-containing or not, are subject to an excise duty amounting to €0.12 per ml. There are no plans to amend the excise duty rate, which has been applicable since 2017.
The excise duty revenue from e-liquids in 2022 amounted to €1,164,421 for nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and €68,585 for nicotine-free e-cigarettes.
According to the approved law (consolidated budget package), e-liquids are taxed at a rate of CZK2.50 (approximately €0.10) per ml. The rate will be adjusted annually as follows: CZK5 (approximately €0.21), CZK7.50 (approximately €0.31), and CZK10 (approximately €0.41) per ml in 2025, 2026, and 2027, respectively.
Act 2616/2021 imposes excise duty on nicotine-containing e-liquids. E-liquids with nicotine of up to 12 mg/ml are taxed at DKK1.50 (approximately €0.20) per ml, while those with nicotine above 12 mg/ml will be taxed at DKK2.5 (approximately €0.34) per ml. No tax is levied on zero-nicotine e-liquids.
Tax stamps are also mandatory and the price is calculated according to the nicotine content of the e-liquid, as confirmed by the Customs Authority. The form to order the stamps can be found on the authority’s website and can be accessed by previously registered companies.
The excise tax on vapor products, regardless of nicotine presence, amounts to €0.21 per ml in 2024.
In June 2023, Parliament approved a bill to increase e-cigarette excise duty to €0.22 per ml in 2025 and €0.23 per ml in 2026. The Tax and Customs Board updated the design of tax stamps for e-cigarettes.
The new stamps are in use from January 1st, 2024. Products bearing the tax stamps valid until December 31st, 2023, can be sold by retailers until March 31st, 2024.
The Tobacco Tax Act imposes an excise tax on e-liquids (with or without nicotine) of €0.30 per ml. This tax rate has remained steady since its introduction on 1st January 2017.
When asked about future plans, the Ministry of Finance remained silent.
We believe the possible change in the taxation of such products depends on the inclusion of them in the prospective European Commission proposal for revision of the 2011/64/EC directive on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco.
At present, there is no excise duty imposed on e-cigarettes in France. The rate of sales tax is established at 20%.
The Tobacco Tax Act set a €0.20 per ml excise tax for e-liquids with or without nicotine. The rate will increase to €0.26 from 1st January 2025 and €0.32 from 1st January 2026.
Greece introduced a levy of €0.10 per ml on e-liquids from 1st January 2017. Since then, it has remained unchanged. VAT at 24% must also be considered for vape products.
Government decree 197/2022 sets out the applicable excise duty on e-liquids, regardless of nicotine content, which is HUF33 (approximately €0.085) per ml.
The Ministry of Finance reported that approximately HUF0.5bn (approximately €1.27m) was collected in tax on e-liquids in 2022, compared to HUF0.2bn (approximately €500,000) in 2021 and HUF0.4bn (approximately €1m) in 2020.
No specific excise duty applies to e-liquids.
A 24% VAT applies to electronic cigarettes and refills. A 0.15% surveillance fee on electronic devices applies to electronic cigarettes.
Ireland does not currently impose an excise tax on e-cigarette products. Sales tax is set at 23%.
Shortly, the authorities could address the possibility of imposing a tax on e-cigarettes in Ireland. The government’s five-year plan (2020-2025) envisages the establishment of a tax on these products.
Every two weeks, the operator of a tax warehouse must inform the ADM about the products dispatched and their corresponding tax. The tax is calculated every 15 days based on the total quantity of liquid sold in ml multiplied by the tax rate for nicotine-containing or nicotine-free liquid. It is paid to the tax office using the F24 excise form.
· Nicotine-containing liquids are subject to 15% of the excise duty levied on the equivalent quantity of cigarettes
· Nicotine-free liquids are subject to 10% of the excise duty levied on the equivalent quantity of cigarettes.
The formula used to calculate tax for e-liquid would be:
Rate = (tax per cigarette unit x equivalence*) x 85%/90% discount
*1 ml of e-liquid is considered equivalent to 5.63 cigarettes.
Example:
· Nicotine e-liquids: tax per ml = €0.132333 = (15548×5.63) x 0.15
· Nicotine-free e-liquids: tax per ml = €0.088222 = (15548×5.63) x 0.10
As of January 2023, e-liquids (nicotine-based or not) are taxed at €0.20 per ml.
Ingredients for the preparation of the liquid used in e- cigarettes (propylene glycol, flavourings, glycerol of vegetable origin and nicotine extracts) are also taxed.
The Directorate of Customs has confirmed to us that a 0.15% surveillance fee is applied to electronic devices used for e-liquid consumption. The fee has its legal basis in Act 146/1996 and Regulation 678/2009.
The State Tax Inspectorate said that e-liquids with and without nicotine are currently taxed by the Law on Excise Taxes at a rate of €0.25 per ml.
The State Tax Inspectorate reported that e-liquids are not subject to excise stamps.
There is currently no excise tax on e-cigarettes in Luxembourg.
As confirmed by the customs department of the Ministry of Finance, currently no specific taxes are applied to e-cigarettes or e-liquids in Malta. However, they are subject to an 18% value-added tax (VAT).
Products carrying e-liquids, whether nicotine-containing or not, including disposable e-cigarettes, are subject to an excise duty. This excise duty was implemented with Law no. 204/2021 amending the Fiscal Code. The excise duty is set at MDL2,055 (approximately €102) per litre in 2023.
Additionally, those products must carry an excise stamp. The excise stamp was introduced by Law no. 256/2022.
The excise duty stamp entered into force on 1st September 2022. However, disposable e-cigarettes and e-liquids that were already placed in the market can be sold without the stamp for 180 days from the publication of Law no. 256/2022, which took place on 12th August.
The excise stamp rate per stamp amounts to:
· MLD0.051 (approximately €0.0025) for domestic products
· MLD0.064 (approximately €0.0030) for imported products
· MLD0.051 (approximately €0.0025) for those products that were in the market at the time of the entry into force of the law and wish to remain once passed the 180-days deadline.
The Republic of Montenegro has amended its excise tax to include e-liquids. According to the Excise Tax Act, a rate of €0.90 per ml applies to all e-liquids, with or without nicotine.
Article 49b of the revised excise law defines e-liquids as being intended for the inhaling of vapour without the burning process, a substitute for tobacco products and liquids intended for use in electronic cigarettes, regardless of whether they contain nicotine or not.
In October 2023, several parties in the House of Representatives (the lower chamber of Parliament) discussed introducing a national tax for vaping products, which would take effect from 2025 due to delays with the introduction of the EU-wide taxation.
At the same time, Marnix van Rij, the state secretary for tax, said that a national tax on vaping products would be introduced in 2026 at the earliest.
During the 2024 Tax Plan discussion, approved by the House of Representatives (lower chamber of parliament) in November 2023, a parliamentary motion was adopted to submit a bill for a national tax on e-cigarettes before the 2024 summer break. The government has started work on the bill. However, it remains to be seen if the new ministers are going to be aligned on this issue.
The Excise Tax Law set out a tax of MKD3 (approximately €0.049) per ml starting on July 1st, 2023.
Amendments to the Excise Tax Law enacted on October 5th, 2023, stipulated new applicable excise duties for e-liquids, regardless of their nicotine content, starting on January 1st, 2024. The amendments envisage an annual increase of MKD0.20 (approximately €0.0032) per ml of e-liquid every January 1st, starting on January 1st, 2024, and ending on January 1st, 2030 (included). The new applicable rate since January 1st, 2024, is MKD3.20 (approximately €0.052) per ml.
The excise tax for nicotine-containing e-cigarettes for 2024 amounts to NOK5.11 (approximately €0.45) per ml. However, the excise tax will only be applicable when Norway implements the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), legalizing nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, which is expected to occur in 2024.
Polish lawmakers decided in November 2019 to amend the Excise Tax Act and set the tax rate on all e-liquids regardless of nicotine presence at PLN0.55 (approximately €0.13) per ml, which came into force on 1st October 2020.
In 2020, Poland imposed an excise tax stamp for e-liquids.
Products placed on the market before the 1st of January need to carry a “legalization stamp", costing PLN5 (approximately €1.10) per stamp. On 1st May 2021, the temporary grace period, which exempted these products from this requirement, ended.
Products placed on the Polish market after 1st January2021 are required to carry the stamp.
According to a Ministry of Finance regulation, non-adhesive tax stamps can also now be used for e-liquids. This decision was taken due to a shortage of glue and the high demand for the only company able to produce the excise stamps. The two types of stamps are:
Adhesive stamps: the stamps are bought in packages of 1,000 units at a cost of PLN47.84 (€10.25) per package, meaning that each stamp costs around PLN0.047 (€0.01)
Non-adhesive stamps: these can be acquired at a lower price of PLN21.09 (approximately €4.50) for 1,000 units, meaning that each stamp costs around PLN0.021 (approximately €0.0042).
Imported products must also carry a specific stamp. This stamp can also be adhesive or non-adhesive. The fees are the same as indicated above.
The Ministry of Finance publishes a guide on the taxation of e-liquids every year.
As of 1st January 2024,nicotine-free e-liquids are taxed at €0.175 per ml and nicotine-containing e-liquids are taxed at €0.351 per ml.
Tax authorities reported that the revenue from e-liquid taxes in 2022 amounted to €2.7m.
Products subjected to tobacco tax, including nicotine-containing e-liquids, need to carry an excise stamp. The stamp for the 2023 financial year must be a magenta (pinkish-purple) color, and the unit price is:
· €0.00472 for the non-adhesive version
· €0.03327 for the adhesive version.
Following the amendment to the Excise Duty Act that was adopted in July 2022, the excise duty on nicotine-containing e-liquids amounts to RON0.81 (approximately €0.16) per ml in 2024.
The tax was scheduled to progressively rise in the coming years to RON0.91 (approximately €0.18) per ml in 2025 and RON1.03 (approximately €0.21) per ml in 2026.
Serbia was an early adopter of excise duties on e-cigarettes. There has been a steady increase in tax rates on e-liquids since 2015, the latest being in 2024. Under the Excise Act, all e-liquids are subject to a tax rate of RSD9 (approximately €0.077) per ml and RSD10 (approximately €0.085) in 2025.
Unlike cigarettes, e-liquids are not required to carry an excise stamp.
As confirmed by the Ministry of Finance, e-cigarettes are not currently subject to excise taxation in Slovakia.
Only VAT at the rate of 20% is applicable to such products.
Pursuant to rules published in the Official Gazette in December 2022, the applicable excise duties for e-liquids as of June 2023 are as follows:
· €0.21 per ml for nicotine-containing e-liquids
· €0.10 per ml for nicotine-free e-liquids.
Currently, e-cigs are only subject to VAT, currently set at 21%. The Canary Islands, due to having a different economic and tax regime, are exempted from VAT. A specific tax, called the Canary Island Indirect Tax (IGIC), is applied instead. The ordinary rate is 7%. There is a specific tax for tobacco, but e-cigarettes are not included in it.
There are two different tax rates that apply to nicotine-containing e-liquids. The current excise duty, which came into force on 1st July 2018, was imposed by Law 2018:696 on excise duties for nicotine-containing products, published in the Swedish Code of Statues along with an implementing regulation (2018:704).
As of 1st January 2021, a definition for highly concentrated e-liquids is introduced in the law on tax for certain nicotine-containing products. Highly concentrated e-liquids are e-liquids with a concentration of nicotine that amounts to a minimum of 15 mg/ml and a maximum of 20 mg/ml. Highly concentrated e-liquids are taxed at a rate of SEK4,000 (approximately €367) per l, while nicotine-containing e-liquids with a nicotine concentration up to 15 mg/ml are taxed at a rate of SEK2,000 (approximately €184) per l.
A tax exemption applies for goods brought into the country by an individual if they are intended for personal use, up to a maximum of 20 ml of e-liquid per person per occasion.
Currently, no specific tax is levied on e-cigarette products. In particular, since 2012, e-cigarettes have been exempted from being taxed like tobacco, as they were previously.
Both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigs are now taxed, like any other consumer product, at 8% value-added tax.
A special tax is very likely to be adopted in 2024. In June 2023, both chambers of the Federal Assembly (National Council and Council of States) approved the amendment to the Tobacco Tax, suggesting the taxation of e-liquids as follows:
· E-liquids with nicotine that can be used in open systems: CHF0.20 (€0.20) per ml
· Disposable e-cigs, regardless of nicotine content: CHF1.00 (€1) per ml of liquid.
The Law On Customs Tariffs imposes import duty on e-liquids with and without nicotine contained in cartridges, refill containers and other containers in the form of an ad valorem tax rate of 3% per l.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine reported that under the amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine, as of 1st January 2023, the excise tax for e-liquids with and without nicotine is set at a rate of UAH10,000 (approximately €248) per l. The rate will be valid during the state of martial law or emergency.
The State Tax Service reported that e-liquids with and without nicotine are required to have excise stamps in accordance with the Regulation on Excise Stamps. The cost of one stamp has increased from UAH0.091 (approximately €0.0022) to UAH0.1643 (approximately €0.0041), starting from 12th April 2023.
Bill 8286 introducing electronic excise stamps and enabling traceability of vapour products passed its first reading in January 2023 and is awaiting its second reading. If adopted, it would enter into force on 1st January 2024.
Only 20% VAT is applicable.
However, on March 6, in the UK's Spring Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced that the government would impose a new tax on vaping from October 2026[11] and increase tobacco taxes.
*This information was last updated on March 12, 2024.
Learn more
UK government announces new tax on vaping from 2026
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