Finance Minister Michael Noonan has estimated that total tax yield from sales of e-cigarettes, should a duty be placed on them in a forthcoming Budget, could be worth around €8.3 million.
In response to a a question from Sinn Féin Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín, Minister Noonan said that the calculation was based on a duty of €0.50 per 10ml of 'e-liquid'.
However, as the Minister noted, "neither e-cigarettes nor e-liquid fall under the harmonised regime for the taxation of tobacco products contained in the Tobacco Products Tax Directive (Directive 2011/64/EU), and may therefore be subject to rates and structures of duty arrived at by each Member State of the European Union."
In addition, given that large quantities of e-cigarette purchases are made through online channels, Minister Noonan added that "it is difficult to estimate how large the market for such products is in Ireland."
He also added that "imposing and collecting a duty on e-cigarettes would require the encompassing of e-cigarettes within the current excise collection system, which would require additional Revenue resources."
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
