Ireland Lifts Cigarette Tax by €1, Sets 40% Vape Duty Increase for 2027
Ireland raised the excise burden on cigarettes from Oct. 7 and will lift the tax on e-cigarette liquids by 40 percent next year, the government announced in Budget 2027.
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris presented the budget to the Dáil on Oct. 6. The tobacco increase took effect through a financial resolution, adding €1 to the tax burden on a pack of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category, inclusive of VAT, with pro-rata increases on other tobacco products, according to the 2Firsts report and Revenue's published rates.
Revenue's rates effective Oct. 7 set the specific component of cigarette excise at €520.88 per 1,000 cigarettes plus an ad valorem charge of 8.67% of the retail selling price, with a minimum excise of €570.73 per 1,000 cigarettes. The new rates also set duty on cigars at €580.447 per kilogram, fine-cut tobacco for rolling cigarettes at €558.422 per kilogram and other smoking tobacco at €402.688 per kilogram.
When the financial resolution was presented, the government estimated the increase would generate about €63.1 million in a full year and roughly €5.1 million over the remainder of 2026. Harris said the measure was intended to continue discouraging smoking, particularly among younger people. The government cited a fall in Ireland's daily smoking rate from 29% in 2007 to 17% in 2025.
Budget 2027 also announced an increase in Ireland's E-liquid Products Tax, or EPT. From Jan. 1, 2027, the government plans to add €0.20 per millilitre to the current rate, taking the EPT from €0.50 to €0.70 per millilitre before VAT — a 40% increase in the excise rate. At the announced rate, the charge on 2 ml of e-liquid would rise from €1 to €1.40, and the duty on 10 ml would increase from €5 to €7. Those figures represent the excise charge itself; shelf prices will also depend on VAT and on pricing decisions by manufacturers, importers and retailers.
The EPT was established under the Finance Act 2024, which created an excise duty on e-liquids covering both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free liquids capable of use in e-cigarettes or other e-liquid inhalation products; e-liquid used exclusively as a licensed nicotine replacement medicine is outside the scope of the tax. The tax took effect on Nov. 1, 2025, at €500 per litre. By Oct. 8, Revenue had published the unchanged €500-per-litre rate, and Harris said the tax had generated more than €22 million in provisional revenue since introduction — the first rate increase comes around 11 months after implementation.
Ireland has increased tobacco duties through successive annual budgets: Budget 2026 raised the burden on a pack of 20 in the most popular price category by €0.50, effective Oct. 8, 2025. Budget 2027 adds a further €1. The e-liquid measure tightens tax treatment across both combustible tobacco and vaping products, with the next increase in e-liquid duty planned for the start of 2027.