Ireland will implement its long-planned e-liquid tax on Nov. 1. The E-liquid Products Tax (EPT) will be the first step in the government’s wider plan to neuter the vaping market, with a disposable vape ban and flavor restrictions coming soon.
Ireland will tax all e-liquid (with or without nicotine) at a rate of €0.50 per milliliter. For open-system vapers, the price of a 10 mL bottle of e-liquid (the legal maximum size in the European Union) will essentially double. The prices of every disposable or pod vape will increase significantly too.
The EU’s second-highest tax rate
The tax rate will be among the highest in the EU, exceeded only by tiny Montenegro’s €0.90/mL levy.
The EPT was included in Ireland’s 2025 budget, announced last fall, and promised for the middle of this year. Delays prevented implementation, however, and as recently as last month officials were uncertain it would be launched in 2025.
The tax is collected at either the wholesale or retail level and paid monthly. The revenue department has produced detailed guidelines describing registration and filing procedures for suppliers.
It’s all about the kids, of course
The government justifies the steep tax solely as a method of reducing youth vaping—despite dragging its feet on passing an age limit to buy vapes until less than two years ago.
"We do not know the long-term harms of vaping products and most contain nicotine which is highly addictive.” health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said in a press release. “Protecting children and young people from these products is a priority for this government and this measure will strengthen the work already underway in my department. Alongside forthcoming legislation to restrict packaging and appearance, flavours, retail advertising and display for nicotine inhaling products and a ban on all single-use vapes, this tax further supports efforts to reduce the appeal and accessibility of vapes to young people."
About 50 countries impose some kind of vape tax.