EU Commission raises taxing e-cigarette question

The EU Commission is considering looking into whether electronic cigarettes should be taxed in the same way as traditional cigarettes are taxed, according to a story in the Irish Times.

The Commission is said to have asked excise duty experts from across the EU to consider the ‘best way to achieve fiscal equal treatment’ of electronic and tobacco cigarettes.

Such a move would drastically increase the retail prices of electronic cigarettes, hinder or perhaps halt their take up and, presumably, lead to the sorts of illegal-trade levels that currently plague the tobacco industry.