Ireland to tax vaping products from 2025

The 2024 budget confirms another increase in cigarette prices, while alcohol prices will remain unchanged, and it plans to tax vaping products starting in 2025.

According to a breaking report from Buzz on October 10, Ireland’s 2024 budget will raise cigarette prices and, in addition, impose taxes on vaping products from 2025. Irish Finance Minister Michael McGrath confirmed the price increase, while also revealing that there will be no changes to alcohol product prices. 

McGrath said in parliament that the total 2024 budget will reach €14 billion. The budget increases cigarette excise by 75 cents, bringing the price of a pack of cigarettes in the most popular price category to €16.75. Other tobacco products will also increase proportionally. This marks the eighth consecutive year of cigarette tax increases, and this time the increase is the largest during that period. Over the past seven years, the tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes increased by 50 cents each time. 

The Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) believes the latest tobacco tax increase does not go far enough. Earlier this month, the medical charity called for cigarette excise to be raised by €2.10 per year over the next two years. The IHF said it hopes this would push the price of a pack of cigarettes to €20 by 2025, in order to combat the growing number of young people taking up smoking. 

McGrath also announced that the 2025 budget will impose a domestic tax on vaping products. 

Previously, charities had proposed in the 2024 budget that the price of e-liquid for vaping products should also be increased, but without overly penalizing people who use e-cigarettes as a method to quit smoking. “Disposable vapes cost nearly €8, meaning for young people the cost of vaping is almost only half that of smoking,” a charity representative said. 

However, when unveiling the budget, McGrath told the Dáil that “my department and the Revenue Commissioners will need to undertake a significant amount of preparatory work in drafting this legislation.” 

According to the Irish Heart Foundation’s proposal, tax on vaping e-liquid would increase by 10 cents per milliliter. This would typically increase the price of disposable vapes by 25%, or by €2 per device.