EU to introduce bloc-wide vaping levy
The EU is set to introduce a new vaping levy as it revamps the tobacco industry’s tax structures and adapts to the vape boom.
According to a draft European Commission document and first reported by the Financial Times, stronger vaping products would have an excise duty of at least 40 per cent applied, while lower-strength vapes will face a 20 per cent duty.
Heated tobacco products will also be whacked by 55 per cent duty, or a tax rate of €91 per 1,000 items sold.
On top of this, the changes lookto boost the bloc’s minimum excise duty on cigarettes from €1.80 to €3.60 per pack of 20, ending an era of ultra cheap prices across eastern European nations, where packs can sell for under €3.
The EU commission was not immediately available to comment.
The news comes as tobacco alternatives continue to grow in popularity across Europe.
Data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) suggested that there are now five times as many vapers in the UK than there were in 2013, with over four million Brits now actively vaping.
Although Public Health England has said that vaping is “around 95 per cent safer than smoking,” there is still some pushback.
Last week environment and health groups called for the sale of single-use e-cigarettes to be banned in the UK due their “rapidly escalating threat”.
In an open letter to environment secretary and health secretary, 18 organisations, including Green Alliance and RSPCA, argued that disposable vapes are “unnecessary electrical items” that contain single use plastic, nicotine and batteries, all of which are “hazardous to the environment and wildlife when littered”.
The demand follows research from Material Focus earlier this year that showed that at least 1.3m disposable vapes are thrown away every week, equating to two vapes per second, enough to fill 22 football pitches per year.