French vapers get budget reprieve as new tax left out of initial draft

The draft Projet de loi de finances (PLF), submitted to the National Assembly on 1 October, contains no reference to vaping, e-liquids, nicotine, electronic cigarettes or tobacco. The accompanying social security financing bill contains no such references either. There is also no new tobacco tax in the initial documents.

The omission means France’s vape shops and consumers will avoid an immediate repeat of last year’s budget battle, when the government proposed a tax on e-liquids, a ban on online sales and a new accreditation system for specialist retailers.

However, the reprieve may be short-lived. Parliamentary debates are due to begin on 13 October, and measures affecting vaping could still be introduced through amendments.

Proposed tax was withdrawn last year

The French vaping sector was hit by a series of proposed restrictions in the draft 2026 budget published in October 2025.

The plan included a tax of between €0.03 and €0.05 per millilitre of e-liquid, depending on nicotine strength. It also proposed banning online sales of vaping products and requiring specialist shops to obtain official accreditation.

The proposals were removed from the version of the 2026 finance bill ultimately adopted. Parliamentary records show that the original Article 23 included a new excise duty on e-liquids, restrictions on how they could be sold and an accreditation requirement for retailers, but those provisions were later deleted.

A petition submitted to the National Assembly in November 2025 called for the proposals to be removed, warning that the tax, online sales ban and new shop requirements would damage specialist retailers and access for consumers. It claimed that more than 20,000 jobs were linked to the sector, although that figure was not independently verified.

The tax would have added a direct cost to every bottle or refill purchased by adult vapers. For people who use vaping as an alternative to smoking, the effect would have depended on the amount and strength of e-liquid used, as well as how much of the tax manufacturers and retailers passed on.

The proposed online sales ban could have had a broader effect on access. Many adult vapers buy products online because they live far from a specialist shop, need particular strengths or flavours, or want to compare products and prices.

Parliament could revive the proposals

The absence of measures from the initial draft does not mean the issue has been settled.

The draft contains several broad provisions that could theoretically be amended to cover vaping. These include Article 19, which deals with tax rules for goods and services, Article 30, concerning liability for certain tax arrangements, and Article 32, covering customs and excise administration.

The accompanying social security financing bill also contains provisions on behavioural taxation and the allocation of tax revenues. None currently refers to vaping, but MPs could seek to use these articles as vehicles for amendments during the parliamentary debate.

Any proposal would need to be tabled, debated and approved through the parliamentary process. The first debates are due to begin on 13 October.

The debate takes place as France continues to manage a sizeable smoking burden while regulating newer nicotine products.

Taxes and restrictions on vaping are generally presented as measures to protect young people and prevent non-smokers from taking up nicotine. Those aims need to be balanced with the needs of adults who smoke and use vaping to move away from cigarettes.

A new tax could raise the cost of switching, particularly if manufacturers and retailers passed the full charge on to consumers. Restrictions on online sales could also make it harder for people in rural areas, or those looking for particular products or nicotine strengths, to access legal alternatives.

For now, the initial 2027 budget contains no vaping tax or related measure. But with the parliamentary process only just beginning, French vapers and businesses will be watching the amendments closely.