Switzerland to Debate Proposed Vapor Tax Plan

Switzerland’s Federal Council has put forward a plan to tax e-liquids, reports Le News, citing Radio Television Suisse.

The proposal calls for taxing e-liquids at a rate that is 77 percent lower than that levied on combustible cigarettes.

The government wants to discourage young people from taking up vaping without discouraging smokers from transitioning to less unhealthy products.

One idea is to tax the nicotine content in e-cigarette liquids for open systems. This would mean taxes rising with rising nicotine content. For single use e-cigarettes or devices using cartridges, the tax would be levied based on the quantity of liquid contained in them regardless of the nicotine contained in them.

 According to the government, such a tax would be easy to put in place and would generate around CHF 15.5 million a year, money which would be used to help fund old age pensions and disability benefits.

The Federal Council’s proposal, which will be discussed until March 31, 2022, responds to a motion approved by the parliament and the Council of States in March 2021.