The island of Jersey will announce a new tax on vapes in this year’s Budget, the Treasury Minister has said.
Deputy Elaine Millar said the policy is part of a broader effort to “dissuade” children and young people from vaping, reduce nicotine consumption and improve public health rather than about generating revenue.
The vape tax will be included in the government’s next spending plans. These require the approval of the States Assembly and are usually debated at the end of the year.
Concern over encouraging people to smoke
The move comes after new data revealed that more than half of Islanders aged between 16 and 34 had used vapes at least once. However, Deputy Miller said she was mindful of not encouraging people to smoke – which is far more harmful than vaping – instead.
“It is more about the health impacts of trying to dissuade children and young people from vaping, but that has to be balanced with the need to try and not encourage people to smoke instead,” she said at a recent Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel hearing.
Public Health director Peter Bradley told the panel that the tax would come in after a vaping awareness campaign and new ‘smoking and vaping strategy’ to be launched early this year.
With disposable vapes due to be banned from June 1, in line with the rest of the UK, the strategy will explore tighter regulation around reusable vapes and other nicotine products to prevent further uptake among young people.
Vaping is less harmful than smoking
Bradley said: “Vaping is known to be less harmful than smoking and is a useful method to help smokers quit. However, we have seen a rise in people choosing to vape, including young people.
“Although most young people don’t vape, we know we need to do more to protect our children and young people from the use of vapes and nicotine, while maintaining the appeal to adults who want to stop smoking.”
Currently, vaping products are subject to VAT at 20 per cent but, unlike tobacco, are not also subject to excise duty.
The tax announcement comes after UK chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a similar measure in October.
Vapes will be taxed at £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid in the UK from October 2026, while duty on 100 cigarettes will rise by £2.20 to “maintain the financial incentive to switch from tobacco to vaping”, the government said.
This vape tax is set to bring in around £15 million (€36 million) by 2029/30.
Other countries that tax vapes
Adding a tax to vapes is becoming an increasingly popular move.
Poland is set to introduce significant tax increases on vapes and e-liquids starting from July.
Disposable vapes will incur a 40 PLN (€9.47) tax per unit, raising retail prices from 30 PLN (€7.10) to around 80 PLN (€18.93). E-liquid taxes will also skyrocket, reaching 1.8 PLN (43 cents) per millilitre by 2027- the highest rate in the EU. Experts have warned these measures may remove vaping products from the market while benefiting traditional tobacco giants and encouraging people to smoke.
Belgium adds a tax of €0.15 per millilitre on all e-liquid. In Estonia it’s €0.20 per millilitre, in Germany it’s €0.26 and in Finland it’s €0.30.
