The new tax on highly concentrated e-liquid will be SEK 4 per milliliter. This was announced after the Riksdag voted through the framework for the government's budget for 2021. This means that a bottle of e-juice, flavored or unflavored, will cost SEK 50 more from the beginning of the year.
As Vejpkollen previously reported the government wants to introduce a new excise duty on e-liquid. And after a quiet debate in Parliament, it is now clear that the price of e-liquid will go up from January 1, 2021. High nicotine liquids, 15 mg/ml and above, will be taxed at SEK 4/ml. Liquids below 15 mg/ml will, as before, be taxed at SEK 2/ml.
"Should not really be sold"
Highly concentrated nicotine liquids have been a concern for the Ministry of Finance since e-liquids became regulated under the European Tobacco Directive in Sweden. Under Swedish law, nicotine liquids with a nicotine content of more than 15 mg/ml are not supposed to be available to ordinary consumers. However, as highly concentrated nicotine liquids are allowed under the EU Tobacco Directive, they can still be on the market. As a result, these liquids could not be stopped from being sold. But they could not be taxed either.
"E-liquids containing nicotine at a level above 15 milligrams per milliliter of liquid are acutely toxic. When the law was introduced, a large proportion of these liquids were exempt from taxation because they could not legally be sold to consumers. However, the Swedish Chemicals Agency has since reassessed the application of the law and now considers that the rules that prevent sales in certain cases do not apply," says the Ministry of Finance via the press spokesperson Johan Ekström to Vejpkollen.
Want to steer users towards lower nicotine
With the new law, the Treasury Department wants to steer consumers to buy e-liquid with lower nicotine levels.
"As we can no longer exclude that consumers can legally buy the products, we propose taxation. In order not to steer consumers towards buying them to mix into other e-liquids, we propose a higher tax than for other nicotine liquids" says Ministry of Finance.
KD: "Not a health product"
The new tax will become a reality on January 1, 2021. The Social Democrats' proposal had the support of the Center, Liberals and the Green Party and did not arouse any major debate. Not even among the opposition in Parliament.
"Tax is sometimes an effective tool, but it must be used sensibly. But neither can we consider nicotine to be a health product" says Michael Anefur (KD), member of the Social Affairs Committee, to Vejpkollen.
SD: "Focus on more healthy measures"
The Sweden Democrats, who have previously spoken positively about e-cigarettes in the Riksdag, also had no objections to the new law.
"However, we want to focus on other, healthier, measures that we believe can have more effective health impacts" says Christina Östberg (SD) to Vejpkollen.
3000 SEK more expensive per year
For a user who needs a high nicotine content (above 15 mg/ml) in their e-liquid, the tax will mean higher costs. According to the Ministry of Finance's own calculations, it is about SEK 3000 more per year.
But according to many analysts this an understatement. This is a tripling of the price. And the concern that e-cigarettes are losing ground in relation to analog cigarettes is high among retailers, especially those who only trades with vejp products. But it's a risk that the Treasury wants to play down.
"We do not have sufficient data to assess any distributional effects of the proposal. But according to our estimates, it is still cheaper than smoking" writes the Ministry.
V: "Think smokers will choose e-cigarettes anyway"
The Left Party, which also supports the government's proposal, says that taxes on vejp products have not been a priority for the party. However, the Karin Rågsjö (V), member of the Social Affairs Committee, shares the Ministry of Finance's assessment. According to her, the higher price should not discourage smokers from considering e-cigarettes, as an alternative to cigarettes.
"We think smokers would rather choose e-cigarettes anyway, as they are both more pleasant and probably better than cigarettes. Even though we don't really know the health effects" says Karin Rågsjö to Vejpkollen.
High nicotine content important, according to studies
Currently, vejpare uses highly concentrated nicotine liquid in two different ways. Premixed e-juice with a high nicotine content (18 mg/ml) is intended for smaller and simpler electronic cigarettes. According to studies, this is the most used the entry-level product for smokers switching to e-cigarettes to quit smoking.
But highly concentrated nicotine liquid can also be bought in the form of a so-called nicotine shot. This variant is meant to be diluted to lower concentrations in a larger amount of flavored e-juice. This combination is common among vejpers who use more powerful appliances. Here again, studies show that the risk of relapse is reduced, using higher power and less nicotine. A final nicotine yield of 3, 6 or 12 mg/ml has become standard in Europe and Sweden.
Today, an untaxed nicotine shot (20mg/ml) costs an average of SEK 20. With the new tax, the basic price will go up by almost SEK 50 (excise duty including VAT) and probably end up at around SEK 70 in stores.
Less nicotine - but more expensive
But a lot can happen along the way.
To avoid a sharp increase in the price of the final product (a nicotine shot plus a flavored shortfill), companies are likely to switch to nicotine shots that have thehigher concentration of nicotine. At least that's what they say Electronic Cigarette Industry Association, in its consultation response to the proposal.
Even if this happens, e-liquid will be more expensive for users, at least compared to today. Less-concentrated e-liquid is already taxed at SEK 2000 per liter. It will certainly be cheaper than the highly concentrated liquid, but more expensive than the alternatives today. Although rare on the market, a nicotine shot of 15 mg/ml currently costs around SEK 40, including tax.
E-cigarettes better for public health
The government expects to receive annually SEK 79 million through the new tax on nicotine liquids. But even though the government is now forcing up prices, the Ministry of Finance still considers e-cigarettes preferable from a public health perspective.
"Public health is affected by the type of tobacco consumed. Since e-cigarettes, even with the proposed excise duty, are cheaper than all tobacco products, consumption should not significantly shift to tobacco. The health effect of the proposed excise duty should therefore mainly be due to reduced consumption of e-cigarettes and a positive health effect is thus expected." writes the Ministry of Finance in its memorandum to the proposal.
Facts: Nicotine and e-juice:
- Nicotine-containing e-liquid may only be sold in packages of 10 ml (according to EU directives)
- The maximum limit for nicotine in an e-liquid is 20 mg/ml (according to EU directives)
- Sweden will be the only country in Europe to distinguish between different concentrations of nicotine, in terms of product groups and taxation. Under Swedish law, liquids with a concentration higher than 17 mg/ml can be sold as consumer goods. But this is allowed in the EU, under the EU Tobacco Products Directive. This trumps the Swedish ban, while the Swedish legislation made taxation impossible, until now.
How much e-liquid will cost in 2021
Flavored e-juice and nicotine, including nicotine salt:
- 10 ml with 15-20 mg/ml = +50 SEK per bottle (tax 4 kr/ml + VAT). Standard prices vary between €30 and €70 today.
- 10 ml of 1-15 mg/ml = same as before (tax 2 kr/ml). Prices vary between 60 and 100 kr today.
- Usual consumption is between 10 and 20 ml of fluid per week.
Tasteless nicotine liquids (so-called nicotine shots)
- 10 ml 15-20 mg/ml = + 50 kr against the current standard price of 20 kr
- 10 ml 1-15 mg/ml = tax 2 kr/ml. Rare on the market, no standard price.
- Nicotine cones are intended as part of a so-called shortfill. 10 to 20 ml of nicotine liquid can be added to a larger amount of e-juice to give a final nicotine content of 3, 6 or 12 mg/ml.
