JAKARTA, Indonesia: The finance ministry announced on Saturday that Indonesia plans to introduce an additional tax on e-cigarettes starting January 1, supplementing an existing excise tax aimed at reducing vaping.
The ministry announced that Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has established a 10% additional tax on the excise tariff for electronic cigarettes.
“Long term consumption of electronic cigarettes has been shown to affect people’s health,” it said, adding the tax on e-cigarettes is also needed to level the playing field with conventional cigarettes.
In 2018, Indonesia, known for its high smoking rates globally, introduced a 57% excise tax on e-cigarette essences, following a history of taxing traditional cigarettes.
However, the recent announcement of an impending rise in excise tariffs has drawn criticism from PAVENAS, a collective representing e-cigarette producers and consumers. They denounced the lack of dialogue and the timing of this tax implementation, threatening legal action should the government proceed with its plans.
