Finland plans e-liquid tax

The Finnish government is planning a new ‘tobacco’ tax that will include electronic cigarettes and e-liquids, according to a YLE24 story.

The decision on whether or not to introduce such taxes will be made during the autumn budget process meetings.

The tax on e-liquids would be set at 30 cents per ml, which would mean that the retail prices of these products would rise significantly.

“If this proposed three-euro tax level is approved, the least expensive category of prices would double,” says Merja Sandell, government counselor with the Ministry of Finance.

The YLE24 story said that electronic cigarettes would be taxed also, but no details were given of how such a tax would be applied or at what level it would be applied.

Currently, only nicotine-free e-liquids have been sold in Finland, but it is expected that, by the end of the year, nicotine e-liquids will be available.

“The idea is that the tax would step into effect at the same time as the new products legally enter the marketplace, said Sandell. “This is an issue of extending the tobacco tax to all of these products.”

As state coffers are expected to receive only a few million euro from this new tax, the main goal seems to be to curb electronic-cigarette usage.