JTI Proposes 25-Cent Irish Cigarette Tax Increase, Says It Could Raise €45 Million

Japan Tobacco International's Irish business has proposed a €0.25 tax increase on a pack of 20 cigarettes in its pre-Budget 2027 submission, as reported by The Irish Times. This is below the at-least-€0.50 increases applied in each of the past 10 Irish budgets, including €0.75 in Budget 2024, €1 in Budget 2025 (taking the most popular price category to €18.05) and €0.50 in Budget 2026. JTI estimates the 25-cent increase would generate about €45 million in additional Exchequer revenue while limiting further consumer movement toward illicit and non-Irish-tax-paid tobacco. Revenue's post-Budget 2026 Ready Reckoner, however, estimates a comparable €0.25 increase—including pro-rata rises on other tobacco products and VAT—would raise about €18 million in a full year, versus roughly €35 million for a 50-cent rise and €69 million for a €1 rise. Publicly available material does not show that the two estimates use identical assumptions, so they are not directly comparable. JTI also says 39.5% of tobacco products consumed in Ireland in 2025 generated no Irish tax revenue, up from 22% in 2021, with an estimated loss of more than €1 billion in excise and VAT; however, that figure includes legally imported, foreign-taxed and duty-free tobacco as well as illicit products, and is not equivalent to an illicit-market share. Revenue's own Tobacco Consumption Survey similarly found over one-third of cigarettes and almost half of roll-your-own packs consumed in Ireland were not taxed in Ireland, prompting tighter rules from December 9, 2025 on tobacco brought in from other EU states, with reference quantities of 800 cigarettes, 400 cigarillos, 200 cigars and one kilogram of other tobacco products. Ireland has also extended excise to e-liquids: the E-liquid Products Tax, effective November 1, 2025, applies €500 per litre (€0.50 per millilitre) to nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-liquids on first supply by a business in Ireland. The Irish Times report does not disclose whether JTI made separate Budget 2027 proposals on e-liquids, heated tobacco or nicotine pouches. JTI Ireland distributes brands including Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut and Camel.

(Source：2firsts.com)