NEWS
EU TAXATION CHANGES
COULD PUSH UP
E-CIGARETTE PRICES
The price of e-cigarettes could rise dramatically if the
European Union introduces new rules to bring them into
the same tax regime as regular tobacco.
T
he European Commission is
considering whether to bring
in new legislation which would
remove ‘inconsistencies’ in the
way tobacco and e-cigarettes are taxed.
Duty on cigarettes is currently at least
57 per cent of the retail price and
22 ISSUE 06 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
VAT adds another 20 per cent to the total
whereas e-cigarettes are only subject
to VAT.
If e-cigarettes were brought into line with
tobacco then a device costing £23 would
more than double in price to £54.
Deborah Arnott, of the health charity
ASH, told The Times that any such move
may discourage smokers from switching
to e-cigarettes.
She said: “If the EU were to require
states to tax electronic cigarettes
like tobacco products it would be
detrimental to public health. It
would discourage smokers from
switching.”
An EU Commission spokesman
said the review was at a very
early stage, telling the Daily Mail:
“The review of current rules for
excise duty on tobacco and tobacco
products has only just
started.
'EU Member States,
including the UK,
have instructed
the Commission
to evaluate the
current rules and
that is what we
will do.
'Before taking any
“THE COMMISSION
WILL CAREFULLY LISTEN
TO EU GOVERNMENTS AND
FULLY CONSIDER THEIR
REQUESTS AND VIEWS.”
decisions, we would need to carry out an
impact assessment, a public consultation
and carry out a lot more technical work. It
is far too early to predict the conclusions
of this review, if any.
“The Commission will carefully listen to
EU governments and fully consider their
requests and views.”
EUObserver.com reported that draft
conclusions from the European Council
said that e-cigarettes, as well as
other “novel” products, could cause
“inconsistencies and legal uncertainty” i n
the single market if they stayed exempt
from excise tax.
They added that increasing taxation
on e-cigarettes could help meet “public
health objectives” and went on to say
that work on the new tax regime should
be “intensified” if “the market share of
such products show a tendency
to increase”.