Federal Council plans tax on e-cigarettes
With a new taxation for e-cigarettes, the Federal Council expects annual additional revenues of 13.8 million Swiss francs, which can be used for the AHV and IV. The amendment provides for the taxation of liquids consumed in electronic cigarettes.
A new federal tax is now to take into account the lower harmfulness potential of e-cigarettes and is therefore to be set at a lower rate than for classic tobacco cigarettes. Normal reusable e-cigarettes are to be subject to tobacco tax only in the case of liquids containing nicotine. The proposed tax rate for these products is 20 centimes per millimeter of liquid. For so-called "disposables" or e-cigarettes for single use, the tax rate is one franc per millimeter of liquid.
According to the federal government, the tax rates on reusable e-cigarettes were deliberately set low so that smokers willing to quit would not be discouraged from using electronic cigarettes as a means of quitting. The higher taxation of disposable vapor devices is intended to have an effect above all on the protection of young people.
In 2021, Parliament originally adopted the motion to draw up the legal basis. With the dispatch that has now been adopted, the Federal Council has submitted a corresponding draft decree to parliament.
Source: Federal Council/Editorial Office
