The Accounts Chamber proposed introducing an import duty of 5% on vapes

The Accounts Chamber proposes to set the import customs duty rate for electronic cigarettes and vapes to 5% of the cost of goods. About it it says in the department’s conclusion on the draft federal budget for 2024-2026.

According to the document, the Accounts Chamber considers it necessary to establish a rate for goods of the EAEU HS subheading 8543 40 000 0 “electronic cigarettes and similar individual electric evaporative devices.” The department explained that this is necessary to equalize the level of import duties on products for the consumption of tobacco and nicotine-containing products.

According to the Accounts Chamber, this measure could bring an additional more than 1.5 billion rubles to the budget if the volume of imports of electronic products remains at the 2022 level.

The department also expects that import customs duties on vapes and electronic cigarettes will help achieve Russia’s national development goal of preserving the population, health and well-being of people.

In early October, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Artem Kiryanov stated, that the doubling of the excise tax on vapes planned in the draft budget for the next three years is “inharmonious” and raises questions. In his opinion, an increase in excise tax from 21 to 42 rubles. will not bring a doubling of this excise tax, but will only lead to the expansion of the shadow market.

On June 1, a law banning the sale of vapes and electronic cigarettes (including those without nicotine) to minors, as well as tightening the rules for the circulation of such devices, came into force in Russia. Such devices can now only be purchased in stores and pavilions; remote sales are prohibited.