Like others around the world, the South African Government has imposed excise taxes on products like alcohol and tobacco to reduce their demand – and now on vaping products for the same reason, but this is unlikely to deter youngsters from smoking, according to the experts.
Reducing demand is necessary as there is growing evidence that vaping products are not harmless, write Nicole Vellios and Corne van Walbeek in The Conversation, but the vaping tax has enraged e-cigarette lobby groups and vaping manufacturers, all of whom argue their products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
They also claim the tax will spawn an illicit industry, that people will go back to smoking traditional cigarettes, and the tax will not dissuade the youth from starting vaping.
In one article the industry claims that the excise tax will increase the retail price of e-cigarettes by more than 100%, while another estimates the retail price will soar by as much as 217%.
This article, which analyses the price increase claims and the effectiveness of the excise tax regime on vaping products, was drawn from the work of the Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products – but we do not explore the rest of the industry’s claims, as government has already responded to some – and our conclusion is that the vaping tax is flawed.
This, we believe, is because it is not well-targeted at reducing the consumption of vaping products among the youth. Young people who are starting to vape are more likely to buy disposable vapes, which attract less tax.
In fact, as currently structured, the excise tax is not sufficiently targeted at reducing, or preventing, the use of vaping products among youngsters.
Youth and lifelong addiction
Disposable vapes, which are closed systems thrown away once the liquid is finished, have become increasingly popular among the youth. These are not teenagers switching from smoking cigarettes to e-cigarettes, but rather young people initiating a potential lifelong addiction to nicotine through vapes. The industry claims it sells only to people aged 18 and older, but this isn’t true.
In 2022, nine schools (both publicly and privately funded) in three South African provinces were surveyed. Among the 5 583 pupils in grades 8-12 who completed the survey, 15% used vaping devices. The prevalence is higher among grade 11 (17%) and grade 12 children (27%).
These high prevalence rates are not surprising given the devices are marketed to the youth, and come in many shapes, flavours and colours.
One vape sold on online retailer Takealot is shaped as an ice lolly. Airspops disposable vapes, made by a UK company called Airscream, are very popular in South Africa, costing, from popular retail supermarkets about R95 for a 3ml AirsPops (the price had not changed since between August 2022 and 14 June this year).
The fact that the price has not changed suggests the new excise tax is either absorbed by the industry or there is old stock on the market. AirsPops are also sold by informal traders, and online, like many other brands of disposable vapes.
There is growing competition in both the closed disposables vapes market and the open systems market. Open systems allow the user to refill the liquid in a vaping device. E-liquids are sold in a variety of nicotine strengths and volumes (typically from 20ml to 100ml).
Nicotine-free e-liquids are not supposed to contain nicotine, although trace quantities are sometimes present. The increased competition in the market has put downward pressure on e-liquid prices.
Since 2004, the National Treasury has targeted an excise tax burden of 40% on cigarettes. This means the excise tax should be set such that it comprises 40% of the recommended retail price of popular-priced cigarettes. Since the excise tax on cigarettes is set as a specific tax (in 2023/24, the rate is R20.80 per pack of 20 cigarettes), higher-priced cigarettes are subject to a lower tax incidence, and lower-priced cigarettes to a higher tax incidence.
In recent years the excise tax increases have generally exceeded the retail price increases, with the result that the average excise tax incidence has increased and is currently about 45% for popular-price cigarettes. If VAT is included, the total tax incidence on popular-priced cigarettes is around 58%.
While equivalence with cigarette taxation is a controversial topic, the current tax on e-cigarettes yields tax burdens consistently below the tobacco tax burdens (except for the 100ml e-liquid). The new tax will affect disposables the least, and e-liquids sold in large containers the most.
Users of 100ml bottles of e-liquid are likely to be seasoned vapers and are more likely to vape as an alternative to smoking cigarettes. Youth who are experimenting with or starting vaping are not likely to buy large containers of e-liquid; they would typically start with disposable vapes.
But this is a problem, because the excise tax is not well-targeted at reducing the consumption of vaping products among the youth. In our submissions to the National Treasury and Parliament’s Select Committee of Finance, we argued that to address this anomaly the government should implement a minimum excise tax amount – we suggested a minimum amount of R50 per unit/container.
This would have no additional tax impact for e-liquid containers with more than 17.5ml, but would have affect small-volume containers, especially disposables.
The tax incidence on a 2ml Vuse disposable would increase from 6% to 37%. The tax incidence of e-liquid (sold in units of 20ml or more) would remain the same.
Other than imposing a minimum excise tax on all vaping products, we propose that National Treasury should, annually, increase the excise tax on e-cigarettes by the inflation rate, plus a pre-announced additional percentage. This will ensure e-cigarettes become less affordable over time.
Pre-announced tax changes are done in countries like Australia, which increased the excise tax on cigarettes by 12.5% above the nominal increase in average wages for eight consecutive years from 2013 to 2020. Through a multi-year approach, tax increases are more predictable.
Addressing the flaws
The vaping industry’s response to the excise tax on vaping e-liquid has been predictably fierce. By focusing only on large containers, the industry has created the impression that the tax increases will have a large impact on the prices of all vaping products.
However, these large containers comprise only a modest proportion of the market. Most vaping products will experience only limited price increases under the new tax. A concern for the public health community is that vaping products that are most used by youth are subject to the lowest tax burden.
South Africa does not need a new epidemic of addiction. The excise tax on vaping devices will go some way to reducing the demand.
Unfortunately, there are flaws in the current tax system that we hope Treasury will address in future Budgets.
Nicole Vellios, Senior Research Officer, University of Cape Town; Corne van Walbeek,
Professor of Economics and Director of the Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products, University of Cape Town.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
‘Vape tax’ could double prices and result in illicit market boom
Vaping industry exploits SA’s policy gap, enticing more to young people to smoke
Why taxing vaping in SA will not help ensure a just tobacco transition