EVERYONE IS WELL used to the annual hike in the price of a packet of cigarettes, but a recent vape tax is less familiar. 

The rise in excise duty on cigarettes has seen the price of a pack of 20 finally hit the mark of €20 – meaning cigarettes now come in at an eye-watering €1 a piece. It’s a doubling in the cost over the past decade.

Vapes have also been hit with a tax hike, adding an extra 20 cent per ml. The average disposable vape many people are familiar with contains 2ml of liquid, meaning an increase of 40c per vape. 

This tax hike will come into effect from January 2027.

Unlike how the price increase on cigarettes is passed directly to the consumer, the supplier is liable for E-Liquid Product Tax (EPT). As with tax increases, this is eventually passed to the consumer by way of price hikes at shops.

In theory, with the additional 20 cent per ml tax on top of the inaugural 50 cent per ml tax brought in last year, there should be 70 cent per ml on top of the retail price – meaning an additional €7 for a 10ml bottle of e-liquid that previously retailed for €5.

A 2ml Lost Mary disposable vape now comes in at €9.50 at licensed retailer Hale Vaping online. With the additional tax, this would come in at €9.90.

The brand’s popular BM6000 vape, which contains 12ml between a pre-filled built-in pod and a plug-in container, retails for €26. This would increase by €2.40 to €28.40.

Another popular brand, IVG (I Vape Great), has a similar 12ml product available for €24, which would increase to €26.40.

Hale Vaping also has a clearance section, where an 8ml vape can be picked up for €10, reduced from €22. Bottles of 10ml of e-liquid can be bought for €8.

These excise hikes are intended both to quell smoking and raise more money for the Exchequer, and it is now widely accepted that while ardent smokers may be more out of pocket, the rapidly rising cost has forced less committed smokers from the habit.

Cigarettes have been around for hundreds of years. What has only exploded onto the scene and changed the way nicotine is consumed globally in the past 20 years are vapes.

Initially billed as a way for smokers to move away from tobacco, vapes are now used by many people who don’t or have never smoked. Research published in 2025 said most teenagers who vape have never smoked a cigarette before.

Will the vape tax make a difference?

KerrysWorld / Shutterstock KerrysWorld / Shutterstock / Shutterstock

Vapes and cigarettes may be more expensive, but that doesn’t stop people from getting around it. 

It is common for smokers to pick up cigarettes in duty-free, or to buy in bulk when abroad. Some people opt to roll their own cigarettes, which works out cheaper per piece. While these are cost-saving measures, they’re 100% legitimate. 

Vapes are dramatically less regulated. Vaping360‘s brand database contains close to 900 vape brands and over 3,700 products. With vape shops popping up in every town and on close to every street in cities, there are hundreds of options for consumers to choose from when buying a device.

Up until January 2025, there was no requirement for retailers to have a licence to sell nicotine-inhaling products, as there is for cigarettes, and many phone shops added them to their offerings.

In reply to a parliamentary question in September, finance minister Simon Harris said that Revenue has advised him that the provisional tax yield of EPT since its start in November 2025 is over €30 million. A total of 91 suppliers had registered with Revenue at that time.

Over €1 billion was raised by Tobacco Product Tax in 2025, the Tánaiste said in reply to a separate parliamentary question. 

The tax yield is way above projections, but it is also true that a lot of retailers don’t pay duties. That same €24, 12ml vape from Hale Vaping is available in some small vape shops for €15, and the 10ml refills can be purchased for €9.50.

Some shops offer even lower prices, and run deals on vapes bought in multiples.

EPT may result in a rise in tax revenue and increased cost at some licensed shops, but with a plethora of shops operating under the radar, many consumers won’t feel the increase in tax on vapes the way they do on cigarettes.

Benny Gilsenan of Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) told The Journal that smuggling has “taken over the market” for cigarettes and vapes.

Gilsenan said a large volume of vape shops opening up across Dublin city are selling vapes at a price of three for €10 – something legitimate retailers who pay duties and tax on their own offerings can’t compete with.

“Dublin Central, in particular, is rampant with illegal selling of cigarette products and vapes,” he said.