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🇩🇪 Germany /Economy & Trade

Vaping: Another Price Increase Is Looming for E-Cigarette Liquids

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Germany’s coalition lawmakers are considering raising the tobacco tax on e-cigarette liquids to 35 cents per milliliter in 2027, above the Finance Ministry’s proposed 33 cents.
  • The industry group BfTG says higher prices could reduce legal sales and expand the black market, which it estimates already accounts for half of the market.
  • Cancer researchers warn that the long-term health effects of substances in vaping liquids remain unclear despite lower pollutant levels than traditional cigarettes.

German vapers may soon pay more for e-cigarette liquids as the federal government and coalition lawmakers debate another increase in tobacco tax.

The Finance Ministry has proposed raising the levy by one cent, to 33 cents per milliliter, from January 2027. The CDU/CSU and SPD coalition factions in the Bundestag are seeking a larger increase of three cents, which would bring the rate to 35 cents. Value-added tax would also be calculated on the higher levy.

For a typical 10-milliliter bottle that currently costs roughly €12, the industry group Bündnis für Tabakfreien Genuss says the tax change could add 36 cents, or about 3 percent, to the price. The group fears that legal sales would decline and black-market activity would increase.

This trend is likely to continue if the tax screw is tightened sharply again.

· Dustin DahlmannThe BfTG chairman warned that a further tax increase could expand the black market for e-cigarette liquids.

BfTG chairman Dustin Dahlmann said the tax on liquids had already risen by six cents this year, to 32 cents per milliliter. He said the estimated black-market share had consequently increased from 40 percent to 50 percent. “This trend is likely to continue if the tax screw is tightened sharply again,” Dahlmann said.

Dahlmann also argued that the government could collect less revenue than expected. He cited 2022 legislation under which the Finance Ministry had forecast €520 million in e-cigarette tobacco-tax revenue for 2025, while actual receipts reached €403 million. “The federal government now risks repeating this mistake,” he said.

Vaping liquids are heated and inhaled as vapor. A survey by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf found that about 3 percent of people aged 14 and older in Germany use e-cigarettes. The vaping industry says its products release far fewer pollutants than tobacco cigarettes and can serve as an alternative for smokers. Cancer researchers caution that the long-term effects of the remaining substances are still uncertain and could cause significant harm.

The federal government now risks repeating this mistake.

· Dustin DahlmannDahlmann referred to the gap between projected and actual e-cigarette tobacco-tax revenue.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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