Lower taxes on e-cigarettes

Consumers of e-cigarettes would have to pay tobacco tax in the future. The state government initiated a corresponding change to the tobacco tax on Wednesday. However, she proposes a lower tax on liquids consumed in electronic cigarettes.

Liquids are taxed

From the Federal Council’s point of view, the tax should take into account the lower harmfulness of e-cigarettes and be correspondingly lower than for classic tobacco cigarettes. The government is thus following a mandate from Parliament from 2021. Parliament then instructed the Federal Council to work out the legal basis for the taxation of e-cigarettes.

In the case of reusable e-cigarettes, only liquids containing nicotine should be subject to tobacco tax. The load should be 20 centimes per milliliter of liquid.

Multiple cigars are preferred

The tax on single-use e-cigarettes needs to be higher: the government plans to pay 1 franc per milliliter of liquid, whether it contains nicotine or not.

The Federal Council writes that the tax rates for reusable e-cigarettes are deliberately low. In this way, smokers who want to quit should not be discouraged from using e-cigarettes as a means of quitting. On the other hand, the higher tax on single-use e-cigarettes should show its effect, especially in the protection of minors.

Simple Control

According to the media report, with the proposed type of tax, e-cigarettes can be taxed relatively easily, despite the wide variety of products with cartridges and refills. The Federal Council expects an annual additional income of approximately CHF 13.8 million, which will flow to the AHV and IV. (pt)