Ready-made cheap: If you buy e-cigarettes, you have to pay tobacco tax again

In the future, consumers of e-cigarettes will have to pay tobacco duty when purchasing the products. After the States Council, the National Council also adopted a corresponding amendment to the law on Thursday.

The Grand Chamber passed an amendment to the tobacco excise law by 119 votes to 42, with 30 abstentions. The deal is now ready for the final vote.

A majority of the SVP faction did not want to take the deal. However, a motion to that effect was clearly rejected by 142 votes to 40 with 0 abstentions.

With her negative attitude, the SVP was alone in the council. Sophie Michaud Gigon (Greens/VD) pointed to the health costs caused by tobacco use. Pricing is one of the most important means of creating incentives against the consumption of particularly harmful products.

Taxation is justified because it is not just about ordinary products, says Jörg Mäder (GLP/ZH). Rather, the human body’s reward system is manipulated by nicotine.

It is a necessary intermediate step, says Fabio Regazzi (middle/TI). However, the tobacco tax needs to be fundamentally reconsidered. A corresponding postulate report is currently being prepared. Several speakers pointed out that a comprehensive tobacco tax reform is yet to come.

According to its own statement, the Federal Council wants to take into account the lower harmful potential of e-cigarettes with its design. The tax must be correspondingly lower than for traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Specifically, the tax rate for reusable e-cigarettes should be twenty cents per milliliter of nicotine-containing liquid. For single-use e-cigarettes, the proposed tax rate is one franc per milliliter of liquid – regardless of nicotine content.

The tax rates for reusable e-cigarettes have been deliberately kept low, the Bundesrat wrote in October in its communication to the House of Representatives.

Smokers who want to quit should not be discouraged from using e-cigarettes as a possible way to quit. On the other hand, the higher tax on single-use e-cigarettes should have an effect, especially when it comes to protecting minors.

Just like the Council of States last March, the National Council also had to decide on a number of amendments. Neither found a majority in the Council. An FDP minority wanted to lower the rate for taxing refillable e-cigarettes to 15 centimes per milliliter, an SVP minority to 11 centimes.

Daniela Schneeberger (FDP/BL) and Mauro Tuena (SVP/ZH) accused the Federal Council of setting the rate higher than necessary in view of income.

Higher tariffs for heated tobacco products and electronic disposable e-cigarettes were also discussed.

Disposable e-cigarettes contain non-rechargeable batteries and are also useless for the environment, criticized Michaud Gigon.

Vaud’s national councilor also unsuccessfully demanded higher taxes on heating tobacco products such as Philip Morris’ Iqos product. Otherwise these would be better priced than e-cigarettes.

A minority of the left and the GLP wanted a fundamentally different tax model based on nicotine content. Downgrading is in the interest of public health, says Samuel Bandahan (SP/NE).

The Bundesrat expects the new tax to generate an additional income of approximately CHF 13.8 million annually. The money is intended for the co-financing of AHV and IV.

Until 2012, e-cigarettes were taxed in Switzerland. However, in 2011, both councils accepted a motion for tax exemption. At the time, proponents argued that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking. As of April 2012, no taxes were levied thereafter.

The then motion maker, the Solothurn SP member of the Council of States Roberto Zanetti, self-critically admitted during the consultation of the revision of the tobacco excise law in the Council of States last March that his assumptions from that time had not come true. (sda)