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Italy has entered 2021 with new excise duties on e-liquids after the Senate passed the 2021 Budget law (Legge di bilancio) last week.
From 1st January, the duty on nicotine-containing e-liquids has been raised to 15%. The amendment also lays down a subsequent increase of 5% each year until 2023 (20% in 2022 and 25% in 2023).
Nicotine-free e-liquids are subject to a new excise tax of 10%, rising to 15% in 2022 and 20% in 2023.
The Italian vaping industry has warned that the new measures will lead to an increase in smuggling and create an imbalance between tobacco alternatives and traditional cigarettes.
“We note with regret the government’s decision in a difficult economic and social period,” Umberto Roccatti, president of the industry association Anafe Confindustria (Associazione Nazionale Produttori Fumo Elettronico), told ECigIntelligence.
Vapour products will be now taxed at a rate of €0.127266 per ml for nicotine-containing products and €0.084844 per ml for nicotine-free products, plus 22% VAT, regardless of retail price.
The 2021 budget bill – already passed into law following the Senate vote – was presented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) in early November.
What This Means: The taxation of e-cigarette products in Italy has a lengthy and contentious history.
Anafe’s president warned that numbers can be misleading because if the rate of nicotine-contaning e-liquids is now 10% (€0.85 per 10 ml bottle), raising it to 15% (€1.27 per 10 ml bottle) in 2021 means an actual increase of 50%.
“All this does not take into account the technical opinion of the Customs and Monopoly Agency, which assessed an increase of 20% for the first year and 40% in 2022,” he said.
As of 17th December, the Customs and Monopoly Agency (ADM) reported 19,569 notified e-cigarette products in Italy.
– Antonia di Lorenzo ECigIntelligence contributing writer
Photo: Marialaura Gionfriddo
