Germany’s Bundestag has sent a government bill raising tobacco and nicotine-product taxes to parliamentary committees after its first reading on Sept. 24. The proposal would raise taxes on cigarettes, heated tobacco, vaping liquids, and other tobacco products every year from 2027 through 2030.
The bill now goes to committee review, with the Finance Committee taking the lead. Under the Finance Ministry's plan, the tax on substitutes for tobacco products (the category that includes vaping liquids) would rise from €0.32 per milliliter today to €0.33 in 2027, then increase by one cent each year to €0.36 in 2030.
The percentage increase in the tax rate for vaping liquids is smaller than the increases calculated for cigarettes and heated tobacco. On the ministry’s average-price calculations, the cigarette tax burden would rise from 20.27 euro cents per stick to 28.77 cents by 2030, while heated tobacco would rise from 16.65 to 23.12 cents per stick. The ministry says a 20-cigarette pack could climb from an average €8.05 today to about €11.36 in 2030 if manufacturers pass the added tax through to consumers.
The government says the changes are part of federal budget consolidation and are also intended to support public-health goals. It projects €756 million in additional tobacco-tax revenue in 2027, rising to €3.59 billion in additional annual revenue by 2030. The extra revenue would go into Germany’s general federal budget rather than being earmarked for health programs.
The Finance Ministry also links the domestic bill to negotiations over the European Union’s tobacco excise rules. It says Germany’s proposal is intended to support an agreement at the EU level, but acknowledges that the national law and tax rates may need another adjustment after a revised EU directive is adopted.
The proposal has drawn an organized industry response. The German Association of the Tobacco Industry and Novel Products (BVTE) launched its “Tabaksteuer mit Augenmaß” campaign on Sept. 21, backed by British American Tobacco, JT International Germany, Philip Morris Germany, Reemtsma, and tobacco trade groups. The campaign argues that steeper increases could weaken legal sales and encourage cross-border purchasing and illicit trade. The Finance Ministry says there are no independent empirical data showing that stronger tobacco-tax increases necessarily expand the illicit market and says it does not expect significant effects from cross-border shopping.
The industry is also pointing to falling tax receipts. Finance Ministry figures show tobacco-tax revenue totaled €9.789 billion from January through August 2026, down 10.8 percent from the same period in 2025. Those figures do not identify a single cause for the decline. The legislation remains a proposal: after the Sept. 24 referral, committees can examine and amend it before any later parliamentary votes.
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